[People News] On January 18, the CCP’s People’s Daily published on its front-page lead an article titled “Upholding the Organic Unity of Governing the Country According to Law and Governing the Party According to Rules,” with the subtitle “Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law Guides Party Members and Cadres to Observe Rules and Laws and Fulfill Their Duties.” The CCP military website promptly reposted the article, placing it in a position second only to the top headline.

The article opens by citing remarks Xi Jinping made on January 12 at the Fifth Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Xi said: “We must uphold equality before regulations and systems, there must be no special privileges in observing regulations and systems, and no exceptions in enforcing regulations and systems, ensuring that institutional provisions truly become high-voltage lines charged with electricity. ‘Top leaders’ must take the lead in implementing the system. We must strengthen publicity and education on regulations and systems, guiding Party members and cadres to understand laws and discipline, clarify rules, and know awe.”

“Equality before regulations and systems, no special privileges in observing regulations and systems, no exceptions in enforcing regulations and systems,” and that “top leaders” must take the lead in implementation. Xi Jinping, as the CCP’s paramount leader and the nominal top leader, naturally should not be an exception either.

After specifically explaining why governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to rules must be unified, the article at the end again mentions that “governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to rules must seize upon leading cadres as this ‘key minority.’” Is Xi also a member of this “key minority”?

Those who follow CCP politics are surely familiar with the fact that after Xi Jinping reached the pinnacle of power in 2012, he also raised high the banner of “the rule of law.” Over five years, he did his utmost to promote “governing the country according to law,” and carried out a purge of the public security and political-legal systems controlled by Jiang and Zeng. Under the banner of anti-corruption, he took down many officials at various levels who persecuted the good and the innocent, abolished the re-education through labor system, implemented policies such as “every case must be filed,” and won over a portion of public support.

However, the remnants of Zhou Yongkang from the Jiang faction within public security systems at all levels continued from time to time to stir up trouble, and cases that violated Xi’s proposed “governing the country according to law” kept occurring. The most typical at the time were the Zhao Xin case in Sichuan, the Shandong “insulting the mother” case, and the Lei Yang case in Beijing, all of which aroused public outrage and surging public opinion. Moreover, under the leadership of Minister of Public Security Guo Shengkun, who had a Jiang-faction background, the Ministry of Public Security supervised many cases that persecuted human rights, including the continued persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. All of these ran counter to Xi’s advocacy of governing the country according to law.

In order to further respond to public opinion, in October 2017 Xi’s report to the 19th Party Congress mentioned “governing the country according to law” 19 times, calling it a “revolution” in governing the country, and proposing the establishment of a “Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Governing the Country According to Law,” to “strengthen the implementation and supervision of the Constitution, advance constitutional review, and safeguard the authority of the Constitution,” and stating that “no organization or individual may have privileges that transcend the Constitution and the law.”

In March 2018, the CCP Central Committee issued the Plan for Deepening the Reform of Party and State Institutions, establishing the Central Commission for Comprehensively Governing the Country According to Law, with its office located in the Ministry of Justice.

However, perhaps influenced too deeply by the CCP’s evil specter, perhaps constrained by the CCP system, or perhaps unwilling to lose power, Xi reached a compromise with the Jiang faction. At the 19th Party Congress, Xi rolled out the so-called new thought and was fashioned into the “new core.” Over the following half year or more, under the direction of Wang Huning, who was in charge of propaganda, Xi was elevated onto a “deified altar.” Songs praising him, research topics, articles, and books were produced one after another; while summoning the spirit of Marx, they did not forget to promote Xi Thought as a new manifestation of the Sinicization of Marxism.

Under the condition of “one supreme leader” dominating everything, and with Xi fully promoting his own confidants within the military and the Party, the example Xi set for officials at all levels of the CCP was this: power is greater than law; the law and CCP Party rules fundamentally cannot restrain Xi or top-level state leaders. The so-called “governing the country according to law” became even more of a decoration and a joke. Democracy and the rule of law were cast aside at an even faster pace: persecution of believers continues, rights-defending lawyers are still suppressed, petitioners are still harmed, and the interests of the public continue to be infringed on a large scale…

Or it can also be said that after the 19th Party Congress, Xi Jinping has been constrained by neither the law nor CCP Party rules, and as his thirst for power further expanded and his status as the “one supreme leader” was further consolidated, he successfully secured a third term at the 20th Party Congress through constitutional amendments, and at the closing ceremony, in full view of everyone, forcibly had former Party chief Hu Jintao, who questioned personnel arrangements, escorted out of the venue.

Understanding Xi Jinping’s former status makes it possible to understand where the heavy article published by People’s Daily on the 18th is aimed, and the primary target is Xi himself. The cleverness of the article lies in using Xi’s own words to restrain Xi—that is, amid various signs indicating that Xi has already lost control of the military and the Party, he must “uphold the organic unity of governing the country according to law and governing the Party according to rules,” and, most importantly, Xi must abide by CCP Party rules.

However, while restraining Xi, this People’s Daily article also tells the outside world that Party power remains above the law. The article states that “through legal procedures, the Party’s propositions are turned into the will of the state and formed into law; through law, the Party’s policies are effectively implemented, ensuring the correct direction of comprehensively governing the country according to law.” The problem is that if the law reflects the will of the CCP rather than the people and does not safeguard the people’s interests, what kind of law is that if not evil law? What is the significance of such governing the country according to law?

In addition to People’s Daily, on January 19 the CCP military website and the PLA Daily’s “Strong Military Discussion” section also published an article titled “Always Maintain One’s Original Character and Keep to One’s Proper Role,” which likewise quoted a sentence from Xi Jinping’s remarks at a recent Politburo democratic life meeting: “Leading cadres, especially senior cadres, must keep a clear mind and strictly discipline themselves, always maintain their original character and keep to their proper role, be as cautious as if facing an abyss or treading on thin ice, and remain humble and prudent.” Is this also hinting that Xi himself should do so as well? That he too should “keep to his proper role”?

From multiple recent articles in official media and military newspapers, it can again be confirmed that the weakening of Xi’s power is an indisputable fact. At the same time, however, the signals released by the authorities still indicate that those controlling the situation have not yet planned to abandon the CCP’s evil regime, and still seem to believe that the crisis can be saved through their own reform.

In fact, perceptive individuals within the CCP have long pointed out the CCP’s only way out. Du Runsheng, former director of the CCP Central Rural Policy Research Office and the State Council Rural Development Research Center, who passed away in 2015 and who guided and influenced Xi Jinping, Wang Qishan, and others on how to resolve rural issues, frequently called for political reform in his later years and made many statements on democracy, freedom, and the rule of law. These statements include:

“The details of democracy cannot be copied mechanically, but the general principles of democracy can be applied in all modernized countries”; “Government administration should accept supervision by public opinion and by society”; “An expensive government organization cannot win the people’s affection”; “History has proven that whichever society can promote democracy, respect freedom, clarify property rights, and provide legal protection for them will be able to gain continuous innovative vitality and take the lead in achieving technological revolution and institutional change”; “We need a transparent democratic government; we need a society that belongs to citizens. We must have collective discussion, not one-man rule” …

In short, the only way for the current rulers to escape their predicament is to take the path of the rule of law and democracy, and the prerequisite for this rule of law is absolutely not insisting on CCP leadership, because insisting on CCP leadership makes it impossible to change the reality that the Party is above the law, and makes it impossible to truly realize the rule of law.

At present, Heaven’s will has long since made it clear that the collapse of the CCP is a historical inevitability, and there is no need to elaborate on the outcome for those who continue to protect the Party.

(People News first publication) △