At a military meeting in Beijing yesterday (3rd), the two major Chinese Communist Party (CCP) military leaders, Zhang Yuxia and Zhang Shengmin, made speeches that were full of expressions of loyalty to CCP leader Xi Jinping. However, despite Zhang Shengmin being promoted to Vice Chairman of the Military Commission, but not entering the Politburo, the ongoing power struggle within the CCP military continues to be closely watched.
The CCP’s military held the first report meeting on the Fourth Plenary Session in Beijing on the 3rd. Zhang Yuxia, member of the Politburo of the CCP Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and Zhang Shengmin, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, met with members of the report team and listened to the reports.
According to CCP state media, Zhang Yuxia mentioned in his speech the need for officers and soldiers to “profoundly understand Chairman Xi’s important speeches” and consciously uphold the “two solidarities.” Zhang Shengmin mentioned the so-called “two solidarities,” “four consciousnesses,” “four confidences,” “two protections,” and the implementation of the system where the Military Commission Chairman is responsible, showing loyalty to Xi with his words.
Political commentator Li Lin told The Epoch Times, it was indeed a compromise at the Fourth Plenary Session, so the display of loyalty to Xi by Zhang Yuxia and Zhang Shengmin is a normal operation. But if you check the reports from the beginning of the year, you can see that He Weidong, who has already fallen, also praised Xi’s ideology at a military discipline committee expanded meeting at the beginning of the year, emphasizing loyalty to Xi’s so-called “two solidarities” and “two protections,” and said he would implement the Military Commission Chairman responsibility system. So this kind of political statement is not reliable during critical times, as it is possible that he has been abandoned by Xi or is against Xi.
Li Lin said Xi Jinping, Zhang Yuxia, and Zhang Shengmin are indeed all from Shaanxi, but it is difficult to say whether they have always been, are now, or will be a united front.
Prominent commentator Zhang Tianliang stated on the program “In the Light of the Day” that whether Li Shangfu, Wei Feng and others have been removed, or He Weidong and Miao Hua have been removed, the entire anti-corruption work within the military is actually under the orchestration of Xi Jinping, with Zhang Shengmin executing it. Zhang Yuxia is just a follower of Xi, similar to Li Qiang being Xi’s follower.
On the day of the closure of the Fourth Plenum on October 23, Zhang Shengmin succeeded He Weidong as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and also served as Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission and Director of the Supervisory Commission, holding the “power of life and death” over personnel and discipline. However, his failure to be elected to the Politburo as Vice Chairman of the Military Commission broke the tradition, sparking widespread speculation.
In fact, there is a precedent for Zhang Shengmin not immediately entering the Politburo, as in the past, Xu Caihou was also elected as Vice Chairman of the Military Commission at a Central Plenary Session, but did not immediately enter the Politburo.
Public information shows that Xu Caihou was promoted to Secretary of the Secretariat of the CCP Central Committee and Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission at the Fourth Plenary Session of the Sixteenth CCP in September 2004. It was not until the First Plenum of the Seventeenth CCP in October 2007 that he was “elected” as a member of the Politburo of the CCP Central Committee, continuing to serve as Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The “Lianhe Zaobao” has previously stated that Zhang Shengmin’s promotion to Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission indicates that his anti-corruption work has been highly praised by Xi Jinping. However, according to convention, the CCP Central Plenary Session generally does not add Politburo members. Whether Zhang Shengmin can enter the Politburo may not be determined until after the Twentieth CCP Congress in 2027.
However, Li Lin said that it is not a convention for the Central Plenum not to elect Politburo members. Because the Party Congress is a complete turnover, and the addition of Politburo members is an adjustment based on the political and economic needs of the Central Plenum, which has occurred at least seven or eight times in CCP history.
For example, in April 1955, the Seventh Plenary Session of the Seventh CCP added Lin Biao and Deng Xiaoping as members of the Politburo; in December 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh CCP added Chen Yun, Deng Yingchao, Hu Yaobang, and Wang Zhen as members of the Politburo. Just at the Fourth Plenum alone, there were two instances of adding Politburo members, such as the Fourth Plenary Session of the Eleventh CCP in September 1979 adding Zhao Ziyang and Peng Zhen as Politburo members; the Fourth Plenary Session of the Fourteenth CCP in September 1994 added Huang Ju as a Politburo member.