The corruption is real. The corruption is fake. The corrupt exploitation of corruption is real. The corruption is about bribery and embezzling. The corruption is about resisting Xi Jinping. The corruption is about submitting to Xi Jinping. One cannot be uncorrupt within the Chinese political system, which is corrupt per se. Pick one. Pick all.
Semafor (November 27, 2024):
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has sometimes capitalized on crackdowns to gain a political advantage, but his fears about corruption aren’t delusional, a China expert told the BBC. [But] observers say Xi’s anti-corruption drive has nevertheless seen a rise in fabricated claims: The Chinese Communist Party has “almost been ‘encouraging’ reports of cadres’ misconduct or complaints about pretty much anything,” a Beijing-based political scientist told the South China Morning Post. False accusations are wasting resources, dampening morale, and deterring officials from raising legitimate concerns, the outlet reported.
Well, Xi is said to be modeling himself in part on Mao, his corrupt hero, and one of the things that Mao liked to do was “encourage reports of cadres’ misconduct or complaints about pretty much anything”; see the Cultural Revolution.
Getting the axe lately: Miao Hua; possibly also Dong Jun, the defense minister—who would be following in the footsteps of Li Shangfu, pink-slipped after toiling at his job of world conquest for a mere seven months; and sundry Rocket Force generals (The Spectator, November 30, 2024).
Miao Hua, one of China’s top commanders has been suspended and is under investigation for ‘serious violations of discipline’—CCP-speak for corruption, according to the defence ministry. Miao, a navy admiral, is one of six members of the party’s powerful central military commission, chaired by President Xi Jinping. He was also head of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) political works department—charged with ensuring CCP control over the PLA. In the military pecking order, he was regarded as more powerful than defence minister Dong Jun. The graft allegations against him will have shaken China’s military leadership.
Rumours have also swirled that Dong Jun himself is under investigation…. If Dong is deposed he would be the third successive defence minister to face corruption charges—all the more damaging, since both Dong and his predecessor General Li Shangfu, who was ousted after just seven months in the job, were hand-picked by Xi.
In recent months, a purge of top generals has shaken China’s Rocket Force, the most secretive and sensitive branch of China’s military which oversees the country’s strategic nuclear forces as well as a conventional missile arsenal that would be central to any assault on Taiwan.
One of the recently purged commanders was the navy commander in charge of the South China Sea. Was he too frugal with the authorizations to ram and water-cannon Philippine vessels?
Xi’s promises to clean up corruption, first articulated when he ascended to dictator-in-chief in 2012, haven’t panned out. But the author, Ian Williams, suggests that we treat “with some caution” the idea that all the power plays are all about graft. “Corruption” refers to graft and it refers to disloyalty to the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping. It may refer to whatever excuse is at hand to justify getting rid of somebody.
Also see:
StopTheChinazis.org: China’s Corruption and Anti-corruption Are Forever
“If everyone is dirty, the game of corruption and anti-corruption is open to all.”
