Rumors Swirl After Beidaihe Meeting, Political Landscape in Turmoil

CCP holds a meeting. (Free images) 

[People News] Following the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Beidaihe meeting, unusual movements have appeared among top officials. Premier Li Qiang has repeatedly presided over important meetings, while CCP leader Xi Jinping and other Politburo Standing Committee members have not been seen in public, sparking speculation and rumors. Analysts believe that with the CCP’s opaque operations, it is difficult to determine what has happened inside Zhongnanhai, but the flood of political rumors resembles scenes from China’s history before dynastic changes.

According to a notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on August 1, press briefings were suspended from August 4 to August 15 and resumed on August 18. The outside world speculated that this suspension coincided with the secretive Beidaihe meeting, where CCP top leaders and elders vacation together. Recently, Li Qiang has chaired multiple major meetings and appeared in state media, suggesting that the meeting has concluded. However, since early August, Xi Jinping has only appeared in written news; no photos or videos of him have been released. The same applies to other Standing Committee members. This has fueled overseas rumors that Xi is gravely ill and hospitalized, though the truth remains uncertain.

Although the Beidaihe meeting has ended, power struggles within the CCP continue. In recent years, many officials and high-ranking generals have fallen due to factional infighting, and it remains hard to predict who will be targeted next or which faction will prevail. At the grassroots level, hardship has stirred discontent, and calls for political change in China are growing louder. In many protests, voices shouting “Down with the Communist Party” have emerged. The people long for a new political system to bring change and hope.

Shu Rong, a Yijing expert living in the UK, recently shared her predictions for China’s political future on NTD’s Elite Forum. She said:
“In 2025, Xi Jinping’s power will weaken further, leaving him a puppet.” According to Shu, 2025 will be a year of extreme instability and transition. Xi will lose real power but will retain his title and still harbor illusions of staging a comeback, believing he is biding his time. On the surface, he will appear cooperative, but in reality, all sides are struggling for dominance, with no faction holding absolute advantage. Beneath the appearance of balance, the situation is highly volatile.

Yuan Hongbing, a scholar living in Australia, recently told Kan Zhongguo that Xi Jinping seeks a fourth term at the CCP’s 21st National Congress in 2027. But Xi’s insistence on absolute personal dictatorship, refusing to share power with other princeling families, has triggered anger among the CCP’s “second red generation” and heightened their sense of crisis over the Party’s survival. According to Yuan, the princelings are now preparing to rally against Xi and block his re-election bid at the 21st Congress. A fierce power struggle surrounding the congress seems inevitable.

Independent scholar Wu Zuolai analyzed on his program Slow Talks on the Mountain (August 15) that “a coup has already occurred; a silent coup is underway.” He noted that after Xi was rumored to have suffered a stroke at the July 2023 Third Plenum, the military essentially took control of the armed forces, including security arrangements in Beijing and Zhongnanhai. Since then, a series of mutinies—or quasi-coups—have unfolded and continue to develop. Wu argued that without the military acting as an independent force, the many drastic changes over the past year would have been impossible. If the Party center remained as united under Xi as before, such widespread rumors would not exist.

The Wall Street Journal reported on July 30 that Party elders may be challenging Xi behind the scenes. Although no clear evidence has surfaced, the rumors reflect both the CCP’s lack of transparency and the public’s desire for change.

Commentator Li Linyi told Dajiyuan that given the CCP’s secrecy, it is difficult to confirm any major changes inside Zhongnanhai, but one also cannot conclude from propaganda alone that Xi’s position is secure. With political rumors running wild, the situation resembles the collapse of past dynasties, when a corrupt regime suddenly fell apart.

Readers of Dajiyuan have also shared their views. Some wrote:
“Uncontrollable factors will ultimately determine Xi Jinping’s fate—things no one can guard against, such as sudden illness. A person’s good or evil will decide his ultimate destiny. For someone utterly wicked, no medical treatment can save him. Reality is full of such examples.”

Another reader commented: “Think about the CCP’s brutal infighting—the sudden death of former Premier Li Keqiang, the sudden death of former Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Xu Qiliang—none of which looked natural. If these deaths weren’t natural, it shows that infighting within the CCP has reached the point of open bloodshed. Add to this the strange incidents surrounding Xi Jinping, the public reshuffle between the head of the Organization Department and the head of the United Front Work Department, the disappearance of CMC Vice Chairman He Weidong, and other developments—all point to a deeply unstable regime. The CCP’s efforts to present a façade of stability to the Chinese people are false. This evil regime could collapse in a major event at any moment. Each of us must decide on the right relationship with the CCP: Will we go down with it and ruin ourselves, or will we join in burying it and help create a brighter future?”