2024-07-09 19:45:00
On March 11, 2024, military representatives attended the closing ceremony of the National People’s Congress of the Communist Party of China. (wang Zhao/AFP)
[The Epoch Times, July 10, 2024]On July 9, the deputy director of the Political Department of the CCP Military Commission was suddenly promoted to general, which once once more broke the convention. The political purge of the CCP military has begun, and it will be up to us who will suffer the next step. The deputy director of the Political Department can also be promoted to general. Whether it is for the purpose of “continuously deepening political training” or the high-level leadership of the Military Commission is planning to replace someone, the Chinese Communist Army is experiencing strange phenomena and is full of unknowns.
Another political cadre gets the rank of general
On March 28, Wang Renhua, secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the CCP Military Commission, was awarded the rank of general, breaking past practice. The two full-time secretaries of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Military Commission before him were only lieutenant generals, but Wang Renhua was exceptionally promoted to general. This should be related to the purge of the Chinese Communist Army. A large number of military officers were dealt with through military courts and will not be announced to the public. Wang Renhua acted in full compliance with Xi Jinping’s instructions and was unexpectedly rewarded with the rank of general.
At the CCP Politburo meeting on June 27, the treatment of Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe was announced. The CCP military court should have gone through the motions, and Wang Renhua, secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the Military Commission, must personally supervise the battle. Other officers who were dealt with include officials from the Rocket Force, the Equipment Department of the Central Military Commission and military industrial enterprises, and I am afraid that they all also passed through the hands of Wang Renhua. This is considered the past tense of the military purge. He Hongjun, deputy director of the Political Department of the Central Military Commission, was also promoted to general. This should be considered the ongoing tense or present future tense of the military purge.
He Hongjun has been the deputy director of the Political Department of the Central Military Commission for 5 years. He has just been designated as executive deputy director and at the theater level, which can be regarded as creating a new level for promotion to general. However, the number of deputy directors of the Political Department of the CCP Military Commission should now only have two people. The other one is Wang Chengnan. The two deputy directors were originally lieutenant generals.
If He Hongjun is promoted to general just to outdo another deputy director, it seems like an overstep. In December 2012, He Hongjun was appointed director of the Political Department of the Qinghai Provincial Military Region. In 2014, he was transferred to the position of deputy director of the Cadre Department and Director of Veteran Cadres of the General Political Department; in 2017, he was appointed assistant director of the Political Department of the Military Commission and concurrently served as deputy leader of the resettlement working group for demobilized military cadres; in 2019 In April of that year, he was promoted to deputy director of the Political Department of the Central Military Commission.
He Hongjun has more seniority than another deputy director, Wang Chengnan. Wang Chengnan served as the political commissar of the Airborne Forces in March 2017; in December 2019, he was appointed secretary of the Air Force Discipline Inspection Commission; in April 2020, he was appointed as the political commissar of the Central Theater Air Force; in December 2021, he was appointed deputy director of the Political Work Department of the Central Military Commission. He Hongjun had been in the Military Commission longer, was promoted earlier, and was ranked before Wang Chengnan. He had to be clearly appointed as the executive deputy director, probably not just to outdo the other deputy director Wang Chengnan.
The Political Work Department also has three assistant directors, one level below the deputy directors. There should be no need to override them with such appointments. However, the deputy director of the Political Department can also be promoted to general. Political cadres are obviously more trusted by Xi Jinping than military generals and are considered more popular. In the CCP army, it is easier to climb up the ranks as a military general than as a political cadre.
Deliberately highlighting the political purges carried out by the Political Department?
Before He Hongjun was promoted to general, he had just been designated as the executive deputy director of the Political Department of the CCP Military Commission, at the theater level. In this way, the executive deputy director of the Political Department will be at the same level as the top leaders of other departments, including the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, various services, and theaters. If this move is to highlight the importance of political work, then the Political Department’s status exceeds that of other departments of the Military Commission.
From June 17th to 19th, the Chinese Communist Party’s military political work conference was held in Yan’an, Shaanxi. In his speech, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping mentioned that “the world situation, the national situation, the party situation, and the military situation are all undergoing complex and profound changes”; it is necessary to “uphold the party’s absolute leadership over the military.” “Continue to deepen political training” to ensure that the barrel of the gun is always in the hands of “loyal and reliable” people.
The leader of the Communist Party of China is worried regarding the loss of military power or mutiny, so he wants to carry out campaign-style “political training” within the military. The Political Department of the Military Commission seems to have greater power of life and death. The deputy director of the Political Department was promoted, most likely to carry out a broad political purge. He Hongjun should be selected by Xi Jinping and ready to make concrete operations.
In this purge, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe were publicly thrown out first, while other dismissed officers such as the Rocket Army and the Equipment Department have not yet been publicly notified. Some of these people are deputies to the National People’s Congress or members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and have been stripped of their qualifications, but no reasons have been disclosed. There are also members of the Central Committee, and there may be a public statement at the Third Plenum of the Central Committee. It is likely that other fallen officers will not be publicly reported in the end.
Officers at the general level may have to publicly report some corruption issues, while officers at the lieutenant general level and below may only handle matters within the army to minimize political impact. However, the briefings of Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe might no longer conceal the chaos within the CCP army.
Now, the executive deputy director of the Political Department of the CCP Military Commission has been promoted to general, and the killing stick is raised high once more, but I don’t know who will fall on it. More generals may be found out as “two-faced”, and the chaos within the military will obviously continue, including changes at the top of the Military Commission.
Is it possible for the members of the Military Commission to change?
At the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the new Minister of National Defense Dong Jun may be replaced as a member of the Central Military Commission. Whether other members of the Central Military Commission will also change will be a major concern.
The so-called executive deputies in the CCP bureaucracy generally mean that when the principal is temporarily unable to perform his duties, the executive deputy can temporarily perform the duties. Another situation is that the principal position is regarding to be transferred, and the executive deputy appointed in advance is ready to take over the position of the principal at any time, or even take charge of the work in advance.
The current director of the Political Department of the CCP Military Commission is Miao Hua, a member of the Military Commission. He was born in the former 31st Army and is considered a member of the Xi Family Army. After He Hongjun became executive deputy director and was promoted to general, his status immediately caught up with Miao Hua’s. Miao Hua was born in 1955 and is 69 years old this year. He should reach retirement age next year. I wonder if He Hongjun is ready to take over. If this is true, it means that Miao Hua may have lost Xi Jinping’s trust.
Zhang Youxia, who is older than Miao Hua, was born in 1950. He is 74 years old this year and still serves as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. If Miao Hua is still trusted, he should be able to serve as a member of the 20th Central Military Commission for five years.
However, the report on Li Shangbo released on June 27 included a crime of “bribery”. In order to be promoted, he should bribe members of the 19th or 18th Military Commission. Members of the 19th Military Commission of the Communist Party of China (2017-2022) include: Chairman of the Military Commission Xi Jinping; Vice Chairman Xu Qiliang and Zhang Youxia; members Wei Fenghe, Li Zuocheng, Miao Hua, and Zhang Shengmin.
Li Shangfu should bribe more than one person, because a certain member of the Military Commission only has the power to make suggestions and not to make decisions. To be promoted in the officialdom of the CCP, it is not enough to be nominated by one person, but also recognized by other people participating in the evaluation; even if there are no other competitors, it is necessary to prevent anyone from raising objections, otherwise it is not guaranteed to pass the test.
Li Shangfu cannot bypass the Vice Chairman of the Military Commission, not to mention that Zhang Youxia was his immediate boss; other members of the Military Commission cannot avoid it either, and they may all have to send money, but the amounts may be different. Li Shangfu’s report on the problem might actually be the same as Wei Fenghe’s, only mentioning the issue of bribery and not the issue of bribery, but the issue of bribery was mentioned separately, perhaps to lay the groundwork for the next step of purges.
Regarding Li Shangfu’s promotion, the Political Department of the Military Commission should be responsible for proposing investigation opinions. If Li Shangfu had bribed Miao Hua, Xi Jinping should have found out regarding it, and Miao Hua’s situation might not be good. Now, He Hongjun, deputy director of the Political Department of the Central Military Commission, is suddenly designated as executive deputy director and promoted to general, which is bound to trigger speculation regarding replacement.
In addition to Miao Hua, other re-elected or retired members of the Military Commission may also face the same situation if they accept bribes from Li Shangfu. If there is any change, it will probably be the most eye-catching news of the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
The deputy director of the Political Department of the CCP Military Commission was suddenly promoted to general. Whether it is for further political purges or a prelude to changes in the top leadership of the CMC, it shows that the CCP military is facing greater chaos.
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