Latest Developments in CCP Infighting: The Princelings Seek to Support Wang Qishan, Xi Jinping Strikes Back

Illustration: Intense infighting within Xi Jinping’s central leadership and the military. (Image by People News)

[People News] Chinese liberal legal scholar Yuan Hongbing, who resides in Australia, recently disclosed to Dajiyuan the latest developments in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) infighting. He revealed that many second-generation CCP elites (known as the "Red Second Generation") believe that if Xi Jinping continues his tenure, it could trigger severe social and political crises. As a result, a faction within the CCP's princelings is planning to prevent Xi from securing another term at the 21st Party Congress and is pushing for former Politburo Standing Committee member and Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Secretary Wang Qishan to replace him. In response, Xi Jinping has launched a comprehensive purge against forces surrounding Wang Qishan.

On February 21, in an exclusive interview with Dajiyuan, Yuan Hongbing stated that sources within the CCP informed him that Xi Jinping had previously promised Wang Qishan that he would not be forced into retirement and would remain on the Politburo Standing Committee even beyond the official retirement age. However, Xi’s close associates, including Cai Qi, believed that Wang harbored personal ambitions that could pose a threat to Xi’s authority if he remained in power. Ultimately, Xi Jinping broke his promise and instead assigned Wang Qishan to the largely ceremonial position of Vice President, before marginalizing him and eventually forcing him into retirement. This reversal marked the beginning of tensions between the two.

At the CCP’s 19th National Congress in October 2017, Wang Qishan stepped down as head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and left the Politburo Standing Committee. His sudden departure, with no clear explanation, sparked widespread speculation. In March 2018, during the CCP's "Two Sessions," Wang was appointed Vice President of China. However, after the 2023 Two Sessions, he retired at the age of 74, with Han Zheng succeeding him as Vice President.

Entering his third term, Xi Jinping faces a severe economic downturn in China. Yuan Hongbing pointed out that while Xi continues to purge his political enemies, he is also seizing the assets of these officials in an attempt to alleviate the country's financial crisis. Since 2021, Xi has conducted a large-scale crackdown on banking and financial system officials.

"The purpose of this purge is not only to consolidate his power but also to confiscate the enormous wealth accumulated by these officials to mitigate the financial crisis," Yuan said. "Wang Qishan had long been entrenched in China's financial and banking systems, where he cultivated a large network of loyalists. Xi’s actions have directly threatened Wang’s interests. These two factors have made the conflict between Wang Qishan and Xi Jinping irreconcilable."

Yuan Hongbing: The Princelings Support Wang Qishan

According to Yuan, the CCP's princelings are actively working to prevent Xi Jinping from securing another term at the 21st Party Congress and are planning to promote Wang Qishan as his replacement. He stated, "This is precisely why Xi Jinping has launched a devastating strike against Wang Qishan’s faction. The CCP’s internal power struggle has reached an intense stage, and punishments for officials have become extraordinarily brutal—Tian Huiyu is one such example."

Yuan explained that Tian Huiyu, a close associate of Wang Qishan with deep roots in the Red Second Generation, has been sentenced to death with reprieve under Xi’s purges. Once detained, he could be subjected to special drug treatments that leave him physically alive but mentally incapacitated.

He added, "People like Tian Huiyu won’t be executed outright, but once injected with such drugs, even if released, they will be reduced to human wrecks with destroyed nervous systems. The fact that the CCP’s tyranny is now using these methods on its own officials shows just how ruthless its internal struggles have become!"

Wang Qishan’s Former Associates Sentenced to Death with Reprieve

On February 5, 2024, Tian Huiyu, former president of China Merchants Bank, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for charges including bribery, abuse of power, leaking insider information, and corruption involving 500 million yuan (approximately 69 million USD). His personal assets were also fully confiscated.

Tian Huiyu previously worked at China Construction Bank (CCB) when Wang Qishan was in charge. During that time, Tian served as Wang’s secretary.

On April 22, 2022, Tian was placed under investigation. That same day, his university roommate and former CCB colleague, Jiang Yunming, was also taken down. Just four days earlier, on April 18, China Merchants Bank had announced on its official website that its board of directors had approved the removal of Tian from his positions as president and director, stating that he would be reassigned. However, only four days later, this so-called “reassignment” did not materialize, and Tian ultimately fell from power.

On October 8, 2022, Tian Huiyu was expelled from the CCP and removed from public office ("double dismissed"). On November 9, 2023, he stood trial.

Besides Tian Huiyu, another former associate of Wang Qishan, Dong Hong, who previously served as deputy head of the Central Inspection Team, was also sentenced to death with reprieve in 2022 for bribery. Dong’s downfall had once drawn public speculation about Wang Qishan’s own fate. Since 1998, Dong had been a close aide to Wang. When Wang served as Guangdong’s provincial party standing committee member and vice governor in 1998, Dong was deputy secretary-general of the Guangdong provincial government. He continued to follow Wang in various roles until his arrest and investigation in October 2020.

On October 10, 2024, former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, Fan Yifei, was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve and had his personal assets fully confiscated. According to the court ruling, after the reprieve period, his sentence would be commuted to life imprisonment, with no possibility of parole or sentence reduction.

Fan Yifei was also a former subordinate of Wang Qishan during Wang’s tenure at CCB. From 1994 to 1997, while Wang served as CCB’s president, Fan was in charge of the bank’s finance department. On November 5, 2022, Fan was placed under investigation, and on June 9, 2023, he was expelled from the CCP and dismissed from public office.

The consecutive downfall of Wang Qishan’s former subordinates has led some analysts to speculate whether the power struggle between Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan, as well as broader CCP elite infighting, is reaching an intense boiling point.

Wang Qishan was once considered an old friend, close partner, and key ally of Xi Jinping. However, since September 22, 2022, when Ren Zhiqiang—a prominent Red Second Generation figure with close ties to Wang—was sentenced to 18 years in prison, many observers have speculated that Xi had grown dissatisfied with Wang and that their relationship had fractured.

From 2013 to 2017, during Xi Jinping’s first term, Wang Qishan played a critical role in assisting Xi’s so-called "anti-corruption tiger-hunting" campaign, helping him consolidate supreme power. At the time, a saying circulated among CCP officials: “Better to face the King of Hell (death) than to face Old Wang (Wang Qishan’s anti-corruption investigations).”

In a commentary article, Dajiyuan columnist Wang Youqun stated that if Wang Qishan had remained a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection at the 19th Party Congress, more high-ranking "tigers" (corrupt officials) would have been purged. To prevent this, Wang’s political enemies continuously leaked negative information about him before the congress, ultimately preventing his reappointment.

The article also noted that in March 2018, considering Wang Qishan’s contributions to Xi’s anti-corruption efforts, Xi appointed him as Vice President of China. However, Xi’s political opponents were displeased with this decision and sought to exploit Xi’s suspicion of Wang, driving a wedge between them. Over time, Wang was gradually sidelined.

Independent political commentator Cai Shenkun told Dajiyuan on February 21 that Xi Jinping's crackdown on Wang Qishan has been all-encompassing. Not only have Wang’s promoted officials been marginalized, but his two closest former secretaries have been sentenced to death with reprieve, while his old friend Ren Zhiqiang was harshly sentenced to 18 years in prison simply for expressing discontent in a WeChat group. Cai remarked, “Wang Qishan is now completely isolated, harboring deep resentment yet unable to vent it, let alone express it openly.”

(Reported by Dajiyuan Special Reporters Xu Yiyang and Ning Xin)