Zhu Rongji and Wang Qishan Appear in Public; Ding Xuexiang Softly Takes Sides

The Second-Generation Red Nobility Stages a Coup, Xi is Panicked. (People News Report Illustration)

[People News Report] Just as rumors of Xi Jinping's authority being weakened and his power diminished are rife in society, another piece of news indirectly confirms these rumors.

Recently, according to reports from Xinhua News Agency, the “Tsinghua Liberal Arts” WeChat public account, Sina News, and The Paper, the 2024 meeting of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management Advisory Board was held at the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management. The first dean and honorary founding chairman of the advisory board, Zhu Rongji, made a rare public statement, conveying his greetings to the representatives. On the evening of October 25, former Vice Chairman and honorary chairman of the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management Advisory Board, Wang Qishan, met and hosted a dinner for the advisory board representative members at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with the advisory board representative members on the morning of October 25 at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing.

This news first dispelled recent online rumors that Zhu Rongji passed away on the 20th and that Wang Qishan was detained and put under house arrest on the 7th. Zhu Rongji has disappeared from the public eye for years, including his absence from the CCP's 100th anniversary in 2021, the opening ceremony of the 20th National Congress, and the National Day reception this year. The latest circulated photo of him online shows him surrounded by doctors celebrating his 92nd birthday in a hospital ward in October 2020. Some reports say that Xi Jinping has kept Zhu Rongji confined to a naval hospital under the pretext of health issues. About half a month ago, there were rumors on overseas social platforms that Zhu Rongji had already passed away and that Xi Jinping had kept the news secret to decide how to handle Zhu Rongji’s legacy.

Zhu Rongji, known as the "Iron-Faced Premier," was China’s most capable, bold, and powerful economic czar after reform and opening up. He was a steadfast guardian and real trailblazer of Deng Xiaoping’s reform and opening-up policies, contributing greatly to China's economic takeoff and high-speed growth. As a prominent elder, Zhu Rongji was quite disinterested in Xi Jinping’s reversal of reforms and regressive policies.

Wang Qishan was one of the people Zhu Rongji cultivated. Zhu Rongji greatly appreciated Wang Qishan’s talents; at the end of 2000, Zhu Rongji gave Wang Qishan an important role by appointing him as the Director of the State Economic Restructuring Office. Later, Zhu Rongji recommended Wang Qishan for the position of governor of Hainan Province, and in 2003, during the SARS outbreak in Beijing, Zhu Rongji again recommended Wang Qishan to be the mayor of Beijing. After Xi Jinping came to power, the Xi-Wang regime fiercely fought corruption among high-ranking officials, but Wang Qishan never touched Zhu Rongji's family, seemingly out of gratitude.

Due to his high merits, Wang Qishan was sidelined by Xi Jinping during Xi's second term, assigned to the vice-chairmanship of the country with little influence. To bring Wang Qishan down, Xi used exiled tycoon Guo Wengui’s leaks to expose Wang Qishan's scandals. Before and after the 20th National Congress, Xi Jinping continued to curtail Wang Qishan’s power. Recently, Hong Kong and Tong News reported that Wang Qishan was placed under house arrest on October 7 in his residence outside the East Gate of the Forbidden City. Analysts suspect that this was a deliberate leak by Xi’s faction, led by Cai Qi, to target Wang Qishan. On October 19, an article on Caixin, which is affiliated with Wang Qishan, included Xi Jinping and Zhang Youxia side by side in the headline, intentionally hinting at Xi’s loss of military control, signaling Wang Qishan’s counteraction against Xi.

Now, with Zhu Rongji’s unusual public appearance, Wang Qishan’s appointment as honorary chairman of the advisory board, and his presence at Diaoyutai, the signals are unusual, suggesting a strong rebuke to Xi Jinping. This also implies that the political elders have regained a degree of freedom and voice. Combined with the respectful treatment that Wen Jiabao and Li Ruihuan received from Xi at the National Day reception, it seems that Xi Jinping has lost in his struggle with the reformist political elders.

What is even more intriguing is that Politburo Standing Committee member and First Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang met with representatives of the Tsinghua Economics and Management Advisory Board at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse on the morning of the 25th. In the past, it was Vice President Han Zheng who would sit down with representatives of the Tsinghua Economics and Management Advisory Board. On March 28 this year, Han Zheng met with the representatives and said that Chairman Xi Jinping highly values the work of the advisory board.

Ding Xuexiang, a prominent figure in Xi’s camp and former top aide to Xi Jinping, replaced Han Zheng to meet the representatives. Oddly, Ding Xuexiang did not mention Xi Jinping at all during the meeting, only saying, “Currently, China’s economy is generally stable and progressing steadily, and we are accelerating the implementation of a series of incremental policies,” and “China has always firmly supported economic globalization, and the door to openness will only get wider.”

During Xi Jinping’s second term, he strictly prohibited political elders from interfering in politics, having Wang Xiaohong's Special Services Bureau keep watch over the senior leaders. Before the 20th National Congress, to ensure personnel arrangements favorable to his re-election, in May 2022, Xi ordered Ding Xuexiang, then director of the General Office, to issue an “Opinion on Strengthening Party Building Work for Retired Cadres in the New Era.” This required cadres who had held leadership positions to “strictly abide by discipline and rules, refrain from commenting on major policies of the Central Committee, and not spread politically negative remarks.” This prohibited political elders from connecting to interfere in politics, and their public activities required approval from the General Office.

According to online rumors, at the Third Plenary Session, Wang Xiaohong defected, refusing to continue supervising the political elders, and joined Zhang Youxia in forcing Xi Jinping to step down. Ding Xuexiang oversees education and technology, and He Lifeng is in charge of finance. Now, Ding Xuexiang has met with Zhu Rongji and Wang Qishan’s faction, surprisingly without mentioning Xi Jinping at all, which is profound, suggesting a subtle alignment, showing goodwill toward the political elders, and indirectly admitting fault. After all, it was he who issued the ban on political elders to please Xi Jinping.

At the same time, this event indicates that as director of the General Office, Cai Qi also had to soften his stance; otherwise, Zhu Rongji and Wang Qishan would not have been able to appear.

The Paper and Sina News also reported that former central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan and former chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and central bank party secretary Guo Shuqing also attended the event. Zhou Xiaochuan was Zhu Rongji’s protégé; it was reported that as one of Zhu Rongji’s conditions for supporting Wen Jiabao as Premier, Zhou Xiaochuan was appointed governor of the People’s Bank of China after the 16th National Congress. Under his leadership, the central bank gained some independence, but his reformist style and market-oriented financial approach were incompatible with Xi Jinping, who replaced him. On May 17 this year, Xi issued a series of measures to save the housing market, but the results were unsatisfactory. Zhou Xiaochuan was not optimistic about Xi’s policies, suggesting China should learn from Japan. Zhou Xiaochuan had spoken during the critical moment of the US-China trade war, indirectly criticizing Xi Jinping as “not understanding the economy.” Interestingly, Wang Qishan and Zhou Xiaochuan did not get along well in the past, yet the two attended the same meeting, possibly reconciling due to shared dissatisfaction with Xi Jinping.

After Zhou Xiaochuan stepped down, Guo Shuqing took over the central bank. Guo Shuqing is a close ally of Wang Qishan. After Xi’s third term, he intensified the purge in the financial sector and established the Central Financial Management Commission, emphasizing party control over finance. On July 1, 2023, Guo Shuqing stepped down as party secretary of the central bank, succeeded by Pan Gongsheng.

Mainland media also reported that attending the 25th annual meeting of the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management Advisory Board was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu, a faithful practitioner of Xi Jinping’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy. Now he, too, has gathered with the anti-Xi faction, which is indeed intriguing. It seems that the weakening of Xi Jinping's power is an open secret among the CCP's senior ranks.

Many other heavyweight figures attended the meeting and activities, such as Zhu Rongji's son Zhu Yunlai, former president and CEO of China International Capital Corporation; Li Zekai, founder and chairman of Yingke Development Group; Deputy Secretary-General of the State Council Wang Zhijun; Vice Minister of Education Xiong Sihao; Secretary of the Party Committee of Tsinghua University Qiu Yong; the president of Tsinghua University, and a host of American capital tycoons and Wall Street bigwigs.

The mere appearance of Zhu Rongji and Wang Qishan indicates that the consensus among the elders is that Xi Jinping’s economic policies have failed, and Xi’s economic path is unsustainable. Whether by force or voluntarily, Xi’s economic power may already be divided, and reformists have regained a voice. Economic power dispersed, military power ceded, and security forces turned – currently, only the media propaganda power remains in the hands of Xi Jinping and Cai Qi. Whether Xi Jinping can ultimately step down peacefully and land safely may depend on the balance and compromise among the various factions within the CCP, given the numerous enemies Xi Jinping has made. 

(First published by People News Report)