The Military’s Performances No Longer Praise “Chairman Xi”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is deeply mired in debt, with its money-grabbing efforts continuing unabated. Its collapse may not be far off. (Jeff Nenarella/Dajiyuan)

[People News] On January 17, the Central Military Commission (CMC) held a Spring Festival cultural performance in Beijing to honor retired military cadres stationed in the capital. In my recently published article, “Less Focus on Xi Jinping in Artistic Performance Reports, Zhang Youxia's Status Unusual,” I highlighted several new indications that Xi Jinping’s control over the military has weakened. These include fewer close-up shots of Xi compared to last year, the complete absence of any close-ups during the performance itself, and the visibly relaxed and cheerful demeanor of Zhang Youxia, the CMC's First Vice Chairman.

Furthermore, a noticeable shift in the reporting tone of the PLA Daily between January last year and this year underscores this change. The focus has moved from pledging loyalty to the "Xi Core" to expressing allegiance solely to the Communist Party. This aligns with the theme of three articles published by Xinhua News Agency, PLA Daily, and CCTV on January 14 and 15, under the pretext of commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Zunyi Conference. These articles publicly signaled that the current Central Committee of the Communist Party has replaced the "Xi as the sole authority" paradigm with "centralized and unified leadership."

To convince skeptics of this shift, on January 20, PLA Daily and PLA Net published a summary titled, "2025 Central Military Commission's New Year Cultural Performance for Retired Cadres in Beijing." This report analyzed individual performances, providing further evidence to the outside world that significant changes have indeed taken place within the CCP's top ranks.

The second paragraph of the 2025 summary outlined the performance’s objectives: "To uphold serving military strengthening, grassroots services, and the well-being of officers and soldiers, reflecting unwavering loyalty to the Party and a commitment to unity and progress." By contrast, the second paragraph of the 2024 summary stated: "The performance thoroughly implemented Xi Jinping’s thought on strengthening the military and cultural philosophy. It emphasized the theme of 'Studying Xi's Military Thought, Contributing to Military Strength,' fully demonstrating the spirit of the military's loyalty to the core and its drive toward excellence."

Had Xi retained his grip on military authority, the event’s summary would logically have continued the 2024 narrative and tone, replete with declarations of loyalty to Xi. However, this year’s summary conspicuously omitted any mention of Xi, instead placing greater emphasis on "the Party."

The design and performance of this year’s military gala clearly centered on loyalty to the Communist Party rather than “Chairman Xi.” According to the program summary, the opening dance, “My Post, My Year,” featured frontline light cavalry team members holding red lanterns and delivering heartfelt reports from military camps to the Party, the people, and revolutionary veterans. The following mixed chorus, “Following,” expressed the soldiers’ collective commitment to fully implementing the political military-building strategy of the new era and their unwavering determination to listen to and follow the Party. The short play “Essence” depicted the loyalty of modern revolutionary soldiers to the Party, while a selection from the opera “The Party’s Daughter” illustrated the ideals and beliefs of Communists in listening to and following the Party.

The summary included this statement: "Praising the Party, praising the motherland, praising the people, and praising the military has always been the eternal theme of military art and literature."

Was this the case in last year’s “2024 Central Military Commission’s Spring Festival Gala for Retired Cadres in Beijing”? Clearly not.

Last year’s event prominently revolved around Xi’s leadership, featuring themes of “Studying Military Thought, Contributing to Military Strength” and loyalty to Xi. For example, the opening dance “Battle Song Welcomes Spring” reflected the historic transformative achievements of Xi Jinping’s leadership in strengthening the military. The women’s chorus “Chasing Light” passionately celebrated the guidance of Xi’s thought, with lyrics such as: "Chasing light, following the light of thought, summoning me to set out once again." Here, the “light” referred to Xi’s thought. Another mixed chorus, “The Strong Military Includes Me,” included the line: "In your earnest instructions, we build achievements in the new era."

Unquestionably, last year’s performances were overtly focused on praising and pledging loyalty to Xi. However, this year, “Chairman Xi” was conspicuously absent. After the performance, CCTV briefly showed a close-up of Xi applauding, but he appeared expressionless and visibly fatigued. Given the starkly different treatment compared to the previous year, it’s no wonder Xi Jinping struggled to appear cheerful.

As for Zhang Youxia and the signals from senior CCP figures advocating for continued “preservation of the Party,” such efforts cannot reverse the Party’s decline. Persisting on a path of outdated or misguided policies will only lead to a dead end. 

(Originally published in People News)