Xi’s Power Has Waned: Party Media Begins Farewell-Style Propaganda

Saplings have already been planted; CCP officials are merely putting on a show. (Video Screenshot)

[People News] Recently, an unusual phenomenon has emerged in Chinese Communist Party (CCP) media coverage of Party leader Xi Jinping. It appears the CCP is abandoning Xi, with media adopting a "farewell ceremony" style of reporting. Now stripped of power, Xi has become a lone figure. His own handpicked allies—the so-called "Xi faction"—are being purged one by one by anti-Xi forces. Even the son of his trusted aide Liu He is reportedly under arrest. This shows Xi can’t even protect his close subordinates, and possibly not even his own position.

On March 31, CCP mouthpiece CCTV’s "Xinwen Lianbo" broadcast a report about the CCP Politburo holding a meeting to review the Regulations on Ecological and Environmental Protection Inspections and a Comprehensive Report on the Fourth Round of Inspections of the 20th Central Committee. The report stated that Xi Jinping presided over the meeting, but bizarrely, not a single frame of Xi was shown.

The second news segment that day, titled Beijing’s Full Efforts to Build an International Hub for Scientific and Technological Innovation, mentioned Xi’s concern and guidance for tech innovation at length. However, the footage of Xi used was from 2023.

On April 4, although state media did show photos and video of Xi participating in a tree-planting event, he appeared with graying hair, low spirits, dragging his feet weakly, unable to muster a smile, and needing help from a student just to carry a small bucket of water. It seemed as if Party media were deliberately revealing signs of Xi’s deteriorating health, laying the groundwork for his stepping down.

North American political commentator Chen Pokong stated on his personal channel: “Xi hasn’t appeared in public much lately, yet the newspapers are ramping up the promotion of Xi Jinping Thought. This high-profile promotion feels like a retrospective, a send-off—a farewell ceremony,” adding, “It’s possible these publications are trying to show that Xi is seriously ill. Just like in Mao Zedong’s final years, when he couldn’t meet foreign guests and stopped public activities, but newspapers were still filled with his directives. In truth, those were signs that Mao was terminally ill and nearing death.”

Chen also said, “This could mean Xi is about to bid farewell. Perhaps the Fourth Plenary Session is about to convene. The Party and military landscapes have settled—Xi has lost control of the military and the Party personnel apparatus. All he has left are nominal titles like General Secretary, President, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission. So these farewell-style reports might be giving him face and a graceful exit. They’re replaying his old slogans: Xi on modernization, which led China into regression; Xi on the economy, which crashed; Xi on culture, which collapsed… It feels like a final review of Xi’s policies, giving him face so he can rest easy on his sickbed.”

In recent days, more reports have surfaced about senior generals and government officials handpicked by Xi being investigated or detained. Analysts say Xi’s “iron triangle” in the military has been shattered, and his military allies are being purged, leaving him a commander with no troops.

Independent commentator Cai Shenkun said on April 8 via his online show that the military anti-corruption purge has gone through two phases. At first, public scrutiny focused on current Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia, since those investigated were his former subordinates. But since April 2024, the situation has completely flipped—the current targets are all Xi loyalists.

Cai noted three key points: First, Xi’s top aide Zhong Shaojun was transferred in April 2024 to serve as Political Commissar of the National Defense University, effectively stripping him of real power. Second, Xi’s personnel handler in the military, Miao Hua, is under investigation. Third, CMC Vice Chairman He Weidong is definitely in trouble—even if he escapes major charges, a return to office seems impossible.

Cai believes these three figures formed Xi’s “iron triangle” within the military. Whether sidelined or under investigation, the military purge targeting them clearly shows that Xi’s military network is being dismantled.

Commentator Li Linyi told The Epoch Times that if He Weidong, Miao Hua, and Zhong Shaojun were Xi’s core military allies, then the triangle was shattered the moment Miao was purged, regardless of the eventual fate of the other two.

During the CCP’s 20th National Congress, Xi secured a third term and saw his faction ascend across the board. But his trusted allies began to fall soon after, especially among military leadership. Many top figures from the Rocket Force, Strategic Support Force, and Equipment Development Department have been taken down. This includes former Defense Ministers Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu, People’s Armed Police Commander Wang Chunning, Rocket Force Commander Wang Houbin, Eastern Theater Commander Lin Xiangyang, Navy Political Commissar Yuan Huazhi, and former Army Political Commissar Qin Shutong.

Former Central Commission for Discipline Inspection writer Wang Youqun wrote in The Epoch Times that Xi’s “political army-building” has been a major failure—highlighted by the downfalls of two key figures: Zhang Yang and Miao Hua, who successively led the CMC Political Work Department and were critical to Xi’s military consolidation.

Currently, instability is emerging in both of Xi’s personnel pipelines: the Party’s Organization Department and the military’s Political Department. Now, even Xi’s childhood friend and Liu He’s son have reportedly been detained, suggesting anti-Xi forces are gaining the upper hand. Xi’s control over the military is weakening, and his administrative allies are falling one after another. According to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Supervisory Commission’s “2024 Integrity and Anti-Corruption Record,” at least 58 centrally managed officials were investigated last year, mostly from finance, state-owned enterprises, energy, and infrastructure sectors. However, experts on China have pointed out that the Communist Party itself is a hotbed of corruption—without political reform, separation of powers, and external oversight, even the fiercest anti-corruption campaigns will ultimately fail. Without eliminating the CCP, corruption will never truly end.