State Media Deletes Loyalty Pledges by Zhang Jun and Ying Yong, Revealing Turmoil in Zhongnanhai

Will the CCP Hold the Most Disastrous Two Sessions in History? (Illustration by People News) 

[People News] On March 9, the Third Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) held its second plenary meeting. The main agenda included listening to and reviewing work reports from Zhao Leji, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, as well as reports from Zhang Jun, president of the Supreme People's Court, and Ying Yong, procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate. China's state-run Xinhua News Agency extracted key points from their reports and compiled them into a single news article.

By comparing Xinhua’s report with the full texts published on the official NPC website, it becomes clear that while Zhao Leji, like other senior officials, followed the usual script of praising Xi Jinping, the tone of this year’s report was noticeably subdued compared to 2024.

In last year’s report, Zhao mentioned the "2442" loyalty pledge twice, but this year, it appeared only once. Last year, he stated that the NPC Standing Committee used "Xi Jinping Thought" to arm their minds and guide their actions, whereas this year, he merely noted it as guidance. When discussing the Standing Committee’s internal development, last year’s report mentioned Xi four times, emphasizing phrases such as "forge the soul through study" and "increase wisdom through study." This year, Xi was mentioned three times, but only in neutral statements. Furthermore, in discussing the upcoming year’s duties regarding constitutional implementation and supervision, this year’s report omitted last year’s phrase about "deeply studying and implementing Xi’s important discourse on the Constitution."

If Xinhua was cautious in toning down the flattery in Zhao Leji’s report, it went further in censoring loyalty pledges from Zhang Jun and Ying Yong’s reports.

In its report, Xinhua noted that Zhang Jun stated the Supreme Court would adhere to "Xi Jinping Thought" as guidance in 2024 and outlined five key areas of work—consistent with last year’s report. However, the Xinhua article omitted the "2442" pledge, a standard phrase used by high-ranking CCP officials to show loyalty to Xi. Zhang also declared that in 2025, the Supreme Court would continue following "Xi Jinping Thought," deeply implementing Xi’s legal and national security policies, and "adhering to the highest political principle of the Party Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership." Notably, this phrase about centralized and unified leadership did not appear in last year’s report.

Regarding Ying Yong’s report, Xinhua deleted references to "Xi Jinping Thought" as guidance and omitted the "2442" pledge, leaving only the phrase "under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core." In the section discussing 2025, Xinhua also removed words related to "establishing" and "safeguarding" Xi’s authority.

Some might argue that these edits were intended to prevent repetitive language in news articles. However, an examination of statements made by NPC vice-chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) reveals that their loyalty pledges were reported in full, making this explanation unconvincing.

This is not the first time Xinhua has censored loyalty pledges from Zhang Jun and Ying Yong. On January 13, in its reports on Zhang Jun’s speech at the National High Court Presidents’ Conference and Ying Yong’s speech at the National Procurators’ Conference, Xinhua removed phrases such as "steering the helm," "Xi as the core," and "2442"—all of which were present in the full texts published on the official websites of the Supreme Court and Supreme Procuratorate. At that time, Zhang Jun had also emphasized the need to "firmly uphold the authority of the Party Central Committee and its centralized and unified leadership."

As a key member of Xi Jinping’s faction, the "Xi Family Army," Ying Yong’s loyalty statements being censored suggests deeper implications. Zhang Jun, who previously supported Bo Xilai’s "Chongqing Strike Hard" campaign, also had his pledges edited out. This is no small matter, especially considering that over the past eight months, both Xinhua and PLA Daily have repeatedly omitted similar phrases from official reports. Such developments strongly suggest that speculation about Xi Jinping’s weakening grip on power may not be unfounded—Zhang Jun and Ying Yong likely understand the internal situation.

Unlike Ying Yong, Zhang Jun has now twice in 2024 emphasized "adhering to the Party Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership" and explicitly called it the "highest political principle" during the NPC session. This effectively contradicts Xi’s personal rule.

Why does this matter? Because over the past few years, especially before the 2024 Third Plenum, the CCP’s highest political principle was the "Two Upholds"—namely, upholding Xi Jinping’s core leadership in the Central Committee and the Party, and upholding the Party Central Committee’s authority and centralized leadership under Xi.

On March 29, 2022, the CCP’s official newspaper, People’s Daily, published an article titled Firmly Achieve the ‘Two Upholds’—The Party’s Highest Political Principle and Fundamental Political Rule. The article emphasized that the Resolution adopted at the Sixth Plenum of the 19th CCP Central Committee highlighted the “Two Upholds” as the Party’s highest political principle and fundamental rule. It further stressed that this was a consensus formed by the entire Party since the 18th National Congress and must be upheld at all times. The article also underscored the importance of deeply understanding the significance of the “Two Upholds” as the Party’s highest principle and fundamental rule.

Additionally, in August of the same year, an official CCP publication titled Excerpts from Xi Jinping’s Discussions on Upholding and Improving the Party and State Supervision System explicitly stated that the “Two Upholds” were the highest political principle and fundamental rule of the CCP.

There is a notable difference between defining the highest political principle as “adhering to the Party Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership” versus the “Two Upholds.” The former emphasizes collective leadership, while the latter underscores Xi’s personal authority. The shift in Zhang Jun’s statements reflects broader changes taking place within Zhongnanhai.

On January 20, 2024, during a Politburo meeting discussing expectations for the new year regarding the NPC Standing Committee, the State Council, the CPPCC, the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Procuratorate, the Party leadership specifically emphasized the need to “adhere to the highest political principle of the Party Central Committee’s centralized and unified leadership, ensuring ideological unity, alignment in direction, and strict compliance with orders.” This increased focus on “centralized and unified leadership” began after reports of Xi’s serious illness emerged following the Third Plenum in July 2024.

During meetings to study the Third Plenum’s directives, Ying Yong stated that the procuratorial organs must “serve the implementation of the Party Central Committee’s reform decisions” and “maintain the authority and centralized leadership of the Party Central Committee through concrete actions supporting comprehensive deepening of reforms.” He mentioned Xi Jinping three times but placed him alongside the Party Central Committee twice. Similarly, Zhang Jun declared that officials must “unify their thoughts and actions with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee.”

At that time, based on observations, there was considerable internal confusion within the CCP’s top leadership. The key disagreement centered on defining the Party’s primary mission in the coming period. Should officials “unify their thoughts and actions with Xi Jinping’s speeches and the Plenum’s directives,” or should they merely “unify their thoughts and actions with the Plenum’s directives” and “align with the Party Central Committee’s major decisions and deployments”? The former highlighted Xi’s authority, while the latter emphasized collective leadership. Different factions within the Party made different choices, which sometimes led to contradictory official statements observed by outsiders.

As the CCP’s highest political principle has changed, and as top officials delivered their scripted speeches during the Two Sessions, Zhang Jun’s public declaration of the new “highest political principle” and Xi Jinping’s omission of references to the “Party Central Committee” and “Central Military Commission” when addressing the military delegation reveal the hidden reality within Zhongnanhai. The undeniable fact is that Xi Jinping’s power has been weakened. And for the CCP’s senior figures operating behind the scenes, covering up this reality is becoming increasingly difficult.