China analyst: Xi Jinping's "Five-Anti Campaign" aims to PURGE his opponents and critics
By bellecarter // 2024-05-13
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The newly launched "Five-Anti Campaign" of the People's Republic of China President Xi Jinping seeks to purge his opponents and critics, a Chinese politics expert recently told the Epoch Times. According to Frank Lehberger, a Europe-based China analyst, the campaign also aims to further consolidate the Chinese supreme leader's hold over the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) Chief Superintendent Chen Yixin last month wrote that the dark period in China's history led to talk of a newly minted campaign. On Qiushi, the theoretical journal of the CCP, Chen said that the campaign was to protect the security of China. The article was followed by an April 29 article in the state journal Study Times also featuring the anti-corruption campaign. "Five-Anti" was reported to be a key part of the CCP's effort to root out capitalism and private property. The original campaign was launched in response to a call issued by CCP founder Mao Zedong in his opening address to the third session of the National Committee of the People’s Political Consultative Conference in October 1951. Launched in 1952, the purge ultimately ensnared hundreds of thousands of businesses and led to many deaths. Taking its cue from the first bloody campaign, which consolidated Maoism's control over Chinese society, the new campaign's pillars are Anti-Coup, Anti-Hegemony, Anti-Separatism, Anti-Terror and Anti-Spy. The recent five-pillared campaign targets those identified by Xi as "spies, traitors or other ill-loyal individuals" among the ranks of the CCP and the Chinese military, said Lehberger, who has 30 years of experience working as a political analyst and consultant in Asia. "To pre-empt any further opposition and obstacles to his plans shortly, Xi has now given the go-ahead for a political campaign to rid the CCP top levels of stubborn forces that still manage to oppose or elude him," he added. Lehberger said Mao used it to "spread fear and terror both among the privileged CCP cadres and the ordinary people alike, dividing them among themselves with the help of bloody pogroms that were initiated by fanaticized grass-roots activists who were loyal to Mao only (not the CCP)." "Xi became painfully aware that even among his entourage, which he had handpicked in October 2022, could still potentially lurk traitors who had secret intentions of using their PLA [People's Liberation Army] or Police connections toppling him or obliterating his plans for a speedy attack on Taiwan and Xi's total autocratic control of China," the expert explained. This scenario resulted in the sacking of Chinese Minister of Justice Fu Zhenghua in September 2022 and Vice Minister for Police Sun Lijun in September 2021. More recently, it led to the sacking of foreign and defense ministers who disappeared without any explanation and without a timely or orderly replacement.

A closer look at the campaign's five pillars

Lehberger warned that the five pillars have actual literal meanings that mask the Chinese government's tactical goal. "The official explanation given for these five is not always equivalent to their actual meaning due to the tacit goals that the CCP tries to obfuscate from public view," he said, adding that Anti-Coup literally means anti-subversion and it targets all treasonous members of CCP-elite clans who are trying to topple Xi. The second one, which is Anti-Hegemony, targets liberal pro-American elites within the CCP. The Chinese word for "hegemony" is a CCP code word denoting anything related to the U.S. government. "At the same time this also signals that the MSS takes control over Chinese foreign policy with the U.S. and her allies in the [United Kingdom], European Union, Japan, Australia, Canada etc, meaning the Chinese Foreign ministers will be subject to more stringent MSS supervision," Lehberger said. The third campaign pillar, Anti-Separatism, pertains to the goal of controlling Taiwan. Its goal is to better infiltrate Taiwan's society and politics and prepare for a Chinese takeover of Taiwan by military or non-military means. Anti-Terrorism is the fourth pillar that aims to create a climate of distrust and fear among ethnic communities in Tibet and Xinjiang. Ordinary Tibetans will be forced to denounce each other, as well as Xinjiang's Uyghurs. Lastly, Anti-Spy hopes to uncover top officials, CCP elites and PLA generals who are selling secrets to anyone outside China. "It also dovetails with a political campaign among the Chinese populace since last year that is hysterically hunting for ‘foreign spies’ and thus forcing mutual denunciations among ordinary Chinese," said Lehberger. The current campaign aims to sow internal division and its primary goal is not to scare investors and entrepreneurs away but to more effectively divide PLA and CCP elite, the expert concluded. This is for Xi and his underlings to "conveniently purge a large number among them." (Related: Beijing warns Washington against crossing "red lines" to avoid CONFRONTATION.) Watch the video below that talks about Xi's visit to French President Emmanuel Macron to enhance political mutual trust between the nations. This video is from the Sanivan channel on Brighteon.com.

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Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com QSTheory.cn TheoryChina.org.cn Brighteon.com
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