Zhu Rongji Speaks Out, Wang Qishan Has New Role - CCP Infighting Appears Complex

Former CCP leader Hu Jintao was "escorted out" during the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress. (Internet screenshot)

People News: Recently, multiple online media sources have occasionally reported the "death" of Zhu Rongji, the 96-year-old former Premier of the CCP, as well as rumors that Wang Qishan has lost power and is under house arrest with scandalous allegations surfacing continuously. However, on October 31, the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management's website and the Chinese WeChat account "Tsinghua Humanities" simultaneously released news showing that on October 25, the 2024 meeting of the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management Advisory Board was held at the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management. Zhu Rongji entrusted Tsinghua University President Li Lumeng to convey his greetings to board members and special guests. Former Vice President Wang Qishan has now succeeded Zhu Rongji as honorary chairman of the Tsinghua Advisory Board and hosted the attendees. Zhu Rongji's son, Zhu Yunlai, former president and CEO of China International Capital Corporation, also attended the banquet.

Zhu’s Message and Wang’s New Role

Zhu's statement and Wang's new role were interpreted by some as the authorities using them to endorse the CCP, with a strong element of dispelling rumors. Some political observers also believe that these events relate to infighting between Xi Jinping’s faction and the elder faction within the CCP.

The Tsinghua School of Economics and Management Advisory Board was established in October 2000, with Zhu Rongji, the school's first dean, serving as the founding honorary chairman. The "Advisory Board" includes several renowned figures from Chinese and international business circles, with Apple CEO Tim Cook as chairman. Zhu Rongji was the school’s first dean and honorary chairman of the Advisory Board, and upon passing the role to Wang Qishan, Zhu is now the founding honorary chairman of the Advisory Board. During the 2022 annual meeting of the school, then Vice President Wang Qishan met with representatives via video.

Zhu Rongji served as Premier of the State Council from 1998 to 2003 and has rarely appeared publicly in recent years, with his last appearance in October 2020. Photos of him celebrating his 92nd birthday in a hospital were circulated online.

Unfavorable News Surrounding Zhu and Wang

Recently, Wang Qishan’s former associates, such as former central bank deputy governor Fan Yifei, Wang’s former secretary and ex-CMB president Tian Huiyu, and his "mentor and friend" Ren Zhiqiang, were given heavy sentences. During the National Day reception this year, Wang was seen with a grim expression and did not applaud Xi Jinping like the other elders. Outside observers speculated that Wang was under attack, with rumors surfacing post-Third Plenary Session about elders and second-generation red leaders clashing with Xi and the party leader’s power being curtailed, making CCP power struggles increasingly visible. On October 12, Hong Kong’s Wen Wei Po reported that Wang Qishan was "under house arrest" at his residence outside the East Gate of Beijing's Forbidden City on October 7, with claims that Wang amassed a fortune of several trillion yuan. Around the same time, online rumors of Zhu's "death" circulated continuously.

Taiwan’s UP Media published a commentary by Du Zheng on October 20, suggesting that it was highly unusual for revelations about Wang Qishan to be posted on external propaganda websites. The article speculated that a faction within Xi’s camp, possibly led by propaganda chief Cai Qi or anti-corruption chief Li Xi, might be behind the reports.

U.S.-based scholar Wu Zuolai told the media that negative stories about Zhu Rongji and Wang Qishan often appear, with some being speculative. Still, he did not rule out that political rivals may hope to see them encounter trouble.

Why Zhu and Wang Made Public Appearances

Unexpectedly, Wang made a high-profile appearance this time, with reports stating, "On the evening of October 25, former Vice President and honorary chairman of the Tsinghua Advisory Board Wang Qishan met with and hosted members of the advisory board at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing." Political observers believe that Zhu’s son attending the event alongside Wang’s public appearance represents an open rebuttal. After all, this is an advisory board under Tsinghua University, involving foreign businesspeople, making it difficult for the Xi administration to interfere too much. Zhu and Wang's appearances, along with their statements, suggest that Xi's influence is not as strong as before. It is unclear why this news took nearly a week to be released; it is speculated that the two factions may have been competing in the background, with Zhu and Wang ultimately prevailing.

Nevertheless, rumors from Zhongnanhai, the CCP leadership compound, occasionally emerge. Due to the CCP’s black-box system, the truth about internal conflicts and power shifts is never publicly disclosed. The public relies on guesswork to gauge the future, hoping that CCP incidents will lead to its collapse. This sentiment reflects the popular will.

In response, the CCP often uses high-ranking officials to dispel rumors when they affect its image, a tactic frequently seen in Chinese political circles. Anyone concerned with current affairs could recall many such instances from memory. Now that Zhu has "spoken out" and Wang has appeared, analysts believe they were asked to appear to prove that they are well, that elder politicians are free, and that the rumors of restrictions on their private communication and monitoring of their calls and movements are false. The rumors, it is claimed, are all the result of "anti-China forces’ undying wish to see us fail," and "class enemies constantly trying to interfere in our internal affairs."

CCP Aims to Quash Rumors in Mainland

Perhaps rumors are equally prone to spreading widely within the Great Firewall. Yesterday, China’s internet regulatory agency launched a new round of special actions to regulate online speech, targeting the creation of online rumors, fake information, and paid online propaganda services.

On October 31, the WeChat public account of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (the Cyberspace Administration of China) announced a two-month "Clean and Orderly Campaign: Regulating Local Content in Information Sections" nationwide. Website platforms are required to fulfill their main responsibilities and clean up the internet ecosystem.

The Cyberspace Administration’s directive emphatically warned that this campaign covers social media, short videos, live streaming, news, e-commerce, search engines, group buying, dating, navigation, travel, local life, weather, calendars, sports, and health platforms that offer city or local content, sections, columns, channels, and mobile apps that provide local information services based on geographical location. It specifically prohibits creating and spreading false information about public policies and social issues, fabricating event causes, details, or progress, posting conspiracy theories, or attempting to gain attention. Services such as "internet water army" operations, like paid reviewers and ranking boosters, are also banned.

However, people are puzzled: fake reviews, paid boosts… aren’t these all tactics the CCP uses to shape public opinion? The public realizes that only the CCP allows itself to commit crimes, slaps its own face, and always claims it is infallibly correct.

So, do efforts by internal CCP opposition factions to elevate their status by using elder politicians in the media to release trivial information unrelated to public welfare count as needing to "clean up the internet ecosystem"?