In China there is a hunt for the corrupt and the general secretary of the Communist Party, Xi Jinping, is consolidating his position at the helm of the country. The Wall Street Journal compares the Chinese leader’s actions to the behavior of Mao Zedong and writes that, like his predecessor, Xi may not end the great purge in the Communist Party.
Xi began leading the Communist Party in 2012. The party later expanded its investigation into the officials’ activities. Millions of officials have been investigated, some officials even disappear from public view.
In 2023, the Communist Party conducted an anti-corruption campaign in the finance, healthcare, and entertainment sectors. The foreign and defense ministers have disappeared. At the same time, China’s economy is experiencing a crisis, while the country’s leadership is becoming increasingly autocratic.
Critics argue that Xi has not effectively curbed corruption in China, but that it continues to proliferate in a different form. Communist Party officials continue to use shady schemes for personal gain, bureaucracy is still rampant.
“Officials are increasingly doing favors for state-owned enterprises, thereby mitigating risks, as such activities do not directly indicate corruption,” Chinese experts Zeren Li and Songrui Liu wrote in a recent study.
The anti-corruption campaign seems to have no end. Xi is already attacking the anti-corruption agency and has also signaled that he has no intention of changing course.
“The fight against corruption will never end. It is still ongoing, but it will never end,” a leading Communist Party organ said recently.
“Xi has invented a new political tool, a perpetual campaign against corruption,” said Yuen Ang, a political science professor at Johns Hopkins University.
Historians believe that Mao Zedong used similar tactics in the past. The former Chinese dictator, however, was more focused on destroying “class enemies”, while Xi lashed out at members of the Communist Party. However, even under Mao, Communist Party leaders were victims of purges.
Communist Party sources told the Wall Street Journal that Xi’s actions are stifling political debate, with lower-level officials no longer daring to make decisions on their own.
Xi’s personality cult is now being compared to that of Mao. Analysts expect Xi to want to lead China for the rest of his life too.
2024-01-02 09:17:00
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