Zhang Youxia Announces to the Whole Military That a New Power Core Has Been Established

File photo of Zhang Youxia (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

[People News] On November 3, Xinhua News Agency released a communiqué about the military’s study of the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee. The central figures in the article were Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission and currently the most powerful figure in the military, and Zhang Shengmin. Current affairs commentator Jiang Feng gave a detailed analysis of the related report.

The Xinhua article mentioned Zhang Youxia’s speech, in which he demanded that officers and soldiers must “resolutely and consciously uphold the Two Establishes.” However, those familiar with the CCP’s formulaic official writing style know that this sentence is only the first half — it must be followed by the second half, which is “to unify thought and action with the decisions and deployments of Chairman Xi.” Yet, in this communiqué, that most important second half vanished. The key part declaring allegiance to a specific person was swallowed — a public refusal to pledge loyalty to Chairman Xi.

In the past, it was common to hear senior officials promoting the study of Xi Jinping’s writings with slogans such as “entering the heart, the brain, and the soul,” which represented the extreme expression of Xi’s personality cult. The term “Chairman Xi” was always listed alongside “the Party Central Committee.” But now, not only have “Chairman Xi” and “the Party Central Committee” been separated, even the gesture of pledging loyalty to someone has been omitted entirely. This is an open declaration of no longer engaging in a personality cult.

Meanwhile, the speech by another CMC member, Zhang Shengmin, was even sharper — as if brandishing a knife in the open. He said it was necessary to “deeply comprehend the Two Establishes.” Notice, he said “comprehend,” not “uphold.” “Comprehend” means to understand and study — but whether to agree or not is another matter.

At the end of his speech, Zhang Shengmin said that it was necessary “to unify thought and action with the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee,” mentioning only “the Party Central Committee,” while “Chairman Xi” was completely omitted — a public declaration of total separation from the personality cult.

Even more intriguingly, 41 seconds after publishing the first Xinhua article, a second communiqué was released. Both were written by the same reporter, covering the same meeting, but in the second communiqué, every mention of the “Two Establishes” and all traces of Xi Jinping’s personal authority disappeared without a trace.

Moreover, the content of Zhang Youxia’s speech was completely replaced — the phrase “Two Establishes,” along with “Xi Jinping,” was deleted entirely, as if they had never existed. In their place appeared cold, rigid formulations such as “strengthen Party committee leadership, adhere to intensive efficiency, and deepen reform and innovation.”

Jiang Feng pointed out that supporting the “Two Establishes” represents personal worship, whereas strengthening Party committee leadership represents collective leadership — this is a public declaration of a shift from personal dictatorship to collective leadership.

The next day, on November 4, the PLA Daily’s print edition carried as its headline article the same second communiqué previously released by Xinhua, with nearly identical content but attributed to PLA Daily reporters Yan Shan and Xiong Siqi — signaling to the outside world that the article represented the official position and collective will of the military.

Jiang Feng believes that this detailed report was no longer intended to consolidate Xi Jinping’s authority but to consolidate Zhang Youxia’s authority. After a military purge comparable to the downfall of Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, the new military helmsman Zhang Youxia is now doing exactly what Xi once did — stabilizing the army, unifying ideology, and declaring to the entire military that a new power core has been established.

Jiang Feng concluded: “That dragon throne in Zhongnanhai’s Taihe Hall — is it still burning hot? I’m afraid it has long since turned freezing cold, with an icy chill that pierces to the bone.” △