In a recent development, Hu Wei, Vice Chairman of the Public Policy Research Center of the State Council’s Office for Policy Research of the People’s Republic of China, publicly called for a separation from Russia. Reports suggest that Hu Wei was recently purged and ordered to retire earlier this year.
According to sources cited by Voice of America on October 4, Hu Wei, a professor at the Shanghai Party School of the Chinese Communist Party from June to September this year, received severe internal warnings, was demoted from his professorship, and was immediately required to retire.
Aside from his role as a professor at the Shanghai Party School, Hu Wei also held positions as Vice Chairman of the Public Policy Research Center of the State Council and Chairman of the Shanghai Public Policy Research Association, as well as Director of the Academic Committee of the Chahar Institute.
The State Council’s Office for Policy Research is a deputy ministerial-level institution under the direct administration of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, with its members generally considered as advisors to the State Council.
Sources indicate that Hu Wei was sanctioned due to his public call for China to distance itself from Russia, a position that starkly contrasts with the stance of the Beijing authorities.
Hu Wei is seen as a pro-American scholar with close ties to the United States-based website “China-US Perception Monitor,” of which Liu Yawei, the brother of retired General Liu Yazhou, is the editor. Liu Yazhou has reportedly been secretly detained by the Xi Jinping regime.
At the onset of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, Hu Wei had previously written urging the Chinese authorities not to be tied to Putin, emphasizing the need to avoid being left in a difficult position. He stated that maintaining a so-called “facade of neutrality” did not apply to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as Beijing had no personal gain in the matter and instead needed to stand with the majority of countries to avoid further isolation.
In February 2023, Hu Wei published an article in a prominent Chinese government media outlet stating that Russia’s status as a major power was diminishing, and the external environment for China was increasingly perilous. He noted that the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine conflict was becoming clearer by the day, leaving the Beijing authorities with little room for maneuvering.
Reflecting on the implications, Hu Wei lamented in his article that “no country, regardless of its size, should go against the tide of human civilization’s development.”
In a March 2023 interview, he asserted that the responsibility for the deterioration of US-China relations did not lie solely with the United States, drawing criticism from some nationalists in China.
In December 2023, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the 3rd Plenum of the 11th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, Hu Wei wrote in an essay for the “US-China Stories Digest,” a key external propaganda platform, that the belief that the United States harbors ill intentions towards China does not align with the historical facts of reform and opening up. He warned that if China were to automatically oppose everything the US supports and vice versa, the relationship between the two countries would surely deteriorate.
The article acknowledged that whether China can continue to integrate and keep pace with the ongoing technological revolution is crucial in determining the country’s path towards building a modern and powerful nation and its ability to thrive in the current global landscape. The challenges ahead are daunting, and the consequences of either proactively or passively falling behind are dire.
In conclusion, the article stated, “We have said what needs to be said, and time is running out for us as history leaves us little room.”