In an article in 'Dialogue China' on February 1, Chinese exiled Tiananmen dissident Wang Dan wrote that a
power struggle is underway within the Party and this raised the possibility that Chinese President Xi Jinping
might not be able to secure a third term at the 20th Party Congress. Saying that the "recent rumours of the
Liu Yazhou incident and the Sun Lijun incident during the Wuhan epidemic are similar in nature to the Bo
Xilai and Sun Zhengcai incidents", he said "This shows that Xi Jinping's unchallenged leadership position
within the Communist Party is not as secure as it once was". He referred to the two consecutive articles
published in the People's Daily on December 9 and 10, 2021, that seemed to be contradictory in terms of
content. He said "One article is mainly about reform and opening. The article mentions the names of Deng
Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, but not a single word about Xi Jinping. The second article, on the
other hand, talks about Xi’s “achievements” without mentioning Jiang and Hu’s names or even Deng’s once".
He also mentioned, as another indication of the inner-Party struggle, the rumours circulating about the
detention of former National Defense University Political Commissar, PLA General Liu Yazhou, whose
brother, Liu Yawei, is director of the China Program at the Carter Center in Atlanta and is the founder and
editor of the website US-China Perception Monitor.
(Comment: PLA General Liu Yazhou is a 'princeling', a 'hawkish' and outspoken General who has often
travelled abroad. Considered close to Xi Jinping, he has also written pieces that appeared to be critical of
some of Xi Jinping's policies.)
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