Roving Periscope: Panicked with a possible coup, China’s Xi purges the ‘enemies within’

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: In one breath, he is exhorting the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to be prepared for a multi-front war; on the other, he is sacking the very military generals who would have led these conflicts.

China’s President-for-Life Xi Jinping—whom his critics abroad denounce as “Xitler”—appears to be facing a series of rebellions within the pseudo-Communist government and the PLA, both of which he heads, the way Adolf Hitler did after military reverses during the Second World War (1939-45).

Xi is following the German Fuehrer’s script by sacking senior officials he suspects as the ‘enemy within’, the ones who could topple his brittle government.

The latest round of purge began with the ‘disappearance’ of Foreign Minister Qin Gang in June on “health grounds,’ only six months after he was appointed. Prior to that, he was the Chinese Ambassador to Washington. He was also allegedly involved in an extramarital affair with a TV anchor.

After a failed mutiny of the Wagner militia against Russian President Vladimir Putin a few weeks ago, his “limitless friend” Xi Jinping also seems to be feeling insecure. According to media reports, he is strengthening his grip tighter than ever on the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of which he is the General Secretary, and told the military top brass that the Party is the one that calls shots in China, not the PLA. As Chairman of the Central Military Commission also, he emphasized the need to strengthen the CCP’s hand over the military, giving some clues of internal trouble.

In the latest episode, China’s Defence Minister General Li Shangfu ‘disappeared’ as signs of trouble within the military establishment deepened. Appointed as the top military boss in March, he visited New Delhi in April to discuss various matters with his Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh.

An aerospace engineer and a top military general seen as very close to Xi until recently, he “disappeared” from public and hasn’t been seen or heard from in the last three weeks. On Friday, the media hinted that he might be under house arrest as ‘investigations’ against him are progressing.

But he is not the only one from China’s PLA to disappear or be investigated against, indicating an institutional purge may be underway. About half a dozen very senior current and former military officials have also either been sacked or haven’t been seen in public over the last few months.

PLA’s General Li Yuchao and his deputy, General Liu Guangbin, also disappeared from public view. Former Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, too, has gone missing for months.

Last week, Li pulled out of a meeting with Vietnamese defense leaders, which was to take place on September 7 and 8. Beijing told the Vietnamese that Li had to skip the meeting because of a “health condition.”

Li was last seen in Beijing on August 29 during the Third China-Africa Peace and Security Forum, where he delivered a keynote address. He was sanctioned by the US under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act in 2018 for his involvement in the purchase of 10 SU-35 combat aircraft and equipment related to the S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia.

China accused the US of not lifting sanctions against Li after the US Secretary of Defence, Llyod Austin’s request to meet with Li was turned down by Beijing.

The latest purge of the defense officials is evidence that Xi Jinping faces an insurmountable challenge from within the PLA after he carried out an alleged anti-corruption campaign over his last two terms.

In recent months, Xi Jinping pronounced to improve military governance by strengthening the hand of the CCP, which seems to have gone weak.

“We have embarked on a new journey to ‘build a world-class army’. Military governance is a profound change that the Party has promoted in the critical period of strengthening the military, based on reality and facing the future, to effectively solve the contradictions and problems in the field of national defense and military modernization,” Xi said during the seventh collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in July.