There are two Central Committees in Zhongnanhai: Cai Qi Installs a Surveillance Device on Li Qiang

On October 23, 2022, Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi attends a press conference at the Great Hall of the People with other newly appointed Standing Committee members and both domestic and international journalists. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

[People News]The upper echelon of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is dominated by Xi Jinping’s faction, the “Xi Family Army.” Premier Li Qiang and Director of the General Office of the CCP Central Committee Cai Qi both hail from Zhejiang and are key confidants in Xi’s “New Zhijiang Army.” However, despite being the Party’s No. 2 figure, Li Qiang’s political weight is lower than that of Cai Qi, who ranks fifth but serves as the top manager of Zhongnanhai. On October 17, independent commentator Du Zhengzhi published an article in Taiwan’s Up Media exposing the inside story of the power struggle between Cai Qi and Li Qiang.

The article begins by saying that infighting within Xi’s inner circle is common, but the open and covert struggle between Cai Qi and Li Qiang is the most intense. The secret battle between the two has become a private topic of gossip among officials.

The article reveals that Cai Qi uses his authority to suppress Li Qiang. Former Premier Li Keqiang used to travel abroad on a special plane like Xi Jinping, but Li Qiang can only take a chartered plane—an arrangement made by Cai Qi. His reason: to highlight Xi’s unique status as the “only one.”

As head of the propaganda apparatus, Cai Qi also deliberately prevents any images of Xi Jinping and Li Qiang appearing in the same frame.

During the 2015 and 2019 military parades, Xi appeared in the same frame with then-Premier and ceremony host Li Keqiang. However, this year’s parade featured no such joint appearance between Xi Jinping and Li Qiang. Official reports show that Cai Qi served as the head of the organizing committee for the War of Resistance commemoration events.

The article further states that Cai Qi—who once launched the campaign to clear out Beijing’s “low-end population” under the slogan “dare to see the bayonet turn red”—acts more in line with Xi’s preferences. Li Qiang, by contrast, is Xi’s former chief of staff and remains little more than a household servant.

From September 13 to 14, 2023, the CCP held a national conference of Party and government general secretaries in Beijing. For the first time ever, the Party and state secretariat meetings were merged and hosted by the Party system. Cai Qi was the highest-ranking official present, conveying Xi’s directives. Government secretaries, who were previously under the Premier’s management, must now answer to Cai Qi—including Li Qiang’s chief aide, State Councilor and Secretary-General Wu Zhenglong.

Wu Zhenglong is a fixture in Li Qiang’s travel entourage. Wherever Li Qiang goes, Wu reports his movements to Cai Qi—essentially serving as a “mobile surveillance device.”

The article points out that Li Qiang is seen as the weakest premier in history. Although nominally in charge of all government affairs, Li in reality manages the economy under Xi’s “direct command.” At the March 2024 National People’s Congress, Li Qiang was stripped of his right to hold the traditional Premier’s press conference—a CCP practice that had lasted more than 30 years. At that same Congress, the Organic Law of the State Council was amended to place the “Central Committee” above the State Council, completing the full merger of Party and government authority.

The article quotes Beijing political observers as saying that there are now two Central Committees in Zhongnanhai: one is Xi himself, and the other is Cai Qi. The oft-heard phrase “submit for Central approval” carries two meanings: one is submission to Xi Jinping for approval; the other is submission to the General Office of the Central Committee—that is, Cai Qi’s approval—or Cai reviewing and then submitting it to Xi for approval.

It is said that in major occasions, Cai Qi often gives Li Qiang the cold shoulder. Under such a structure in Zhongnanhai, Li Qiang and Cai Qi are not only outwardly cordial but inwardly opposed—they are, in fact, openly at odds with each other. △