Zhang Youxia, during his speech on stage, was full of assertiveness, displaying the demeanour of a top military boss. Military officers below the stage were taking notes with their heads down, showing complete submission. (video screenshot).
[People News] Following the conclusion of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the authoritative "Strong Army Discussion Forum" of the Chinese Communist Party's military report and military network published five official articles from November 2 to 13. What changes in tone do these articles reflect compared to previous ones? Let's take a closer look at each one.
1. The article published on the 2nd, titled "How to Adhere to Consistency in Words and Deeds, and Unity of Knowledge and Action," conveys the core message that Communist Party members and cadres must "always be consistent in their words and actions, maintain the same demeanor on and off stage, behave the same in front of others and behind their backs, and be the same inside and outside of the eight-hour workday," and should not be "two-faced people," among other points. The author firmly believes that since the founding of the Communist Party in 1921, very few high-ranking officials have been able to meet this standard, and in the past 50 years, almost none of the Communist Party's high-ranking officials have achieved such standards. However, the lack of officials meeting these standards does not stop the Communist Party from repeatedly using this rhetoric to deceive the public.
Perhaps they are also aware of this. In this article, several figures mentioned are well-known deceased members of the Communist Party, such as Ren Bishi, Xie Juezai, Jiao Yulu, and Luo Ronghuan, among others. Notably, "Xi Thought" and Xi's strong military thought are only mentioned at the end of the sixth paragraph of the full nine-paragraph article, while the rest of the text does not reference Xi Jinping or "Chairman Xi."
A comparison with the similar article titled "Cultivating the Loyal Character of Unity of Knowledge and Action," published in the Military Report on July 16, 2024, reveals some issues. The opening sentence of that article states, "Chairman Xi emphasised in his important speech at the Central Military Commission's Political Work Conference," highlighting the core theme of political loyalty and criticising "two-faced individuals," particularly targeting "leading cadres." The article is a clear expression of loyalty to Xi, mentioning him several times and asserting the need to "firmly and consciously maintain a high degree of consistency in thought, politics, and action with the Party Central Committee, the Central Military Commission, and Chairman Xi," as well as to "thoroughly implement the responsibility system of the Chairman of the Military Commission," among other points.
Articles published before 2025 generally share a tone similar to that of the July 16 article. However, in contrast to the article from November 2, the reduced references to "Chairman Xi" are quite apparent.
2. In the article titled "How to Break the Privilege Mindset and Privilege Behaviour," published on the 3rd, the opening sentence declares, "Privilege is the greatest injustice, a highly harmful corrosive agent, and an extremely lethal centrifugal force," followed by a statement that officials should serve the people, along with several examples.
It is evident that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is acutely aware of the dangers posed by privilege. However, the privileges and abuses of power by CCP officials since 1949 have made it clear to the public that this is an evil party that speaks beautifully while engaging in actions that harm the nation and its people. Therefore, without an independent judiciary, independent media, and fair elections, no matter how vigorously the CCP combats corruption or seeks to dismantle privilege, it will ultimately be futile.
The entire article only mentions the phrase "Chairman Xi pointed out" in the second paragraph, with no further references to Xi thereafter.
In the article "Maintaining Awe for Power" published on April 2, 2024, in the military newspaper, the first paragraph mentions "Chairman Xi" twice, stating that "Chairman Xi's important discourse has provided direction and clarified the requirements for party members and cadres on how to properly exercise power." The following paragraphs also refer to "Chairman Xi" twice, highlighting "Xi Thought" and stressing the importance of "seriously studying and understanding Chairman Xi's significant discourses on the views of power, achievements, and careers," among other points.
In contrast, the evident downplaying of Xi is also noticeable.
3. Additionally, in the article "Carrying Out Ideological Transformation to the End" published on the 6th, the main focus is on "loyalty to the party," asserting that "to assess the practical effectiveness of ideological transformation, the most fundamental aspect is to determine whether loyalty remains steadfast and whether knowledge and action are aligned." The text only mentions "Chairman Xi" in the third paragraph concerning the deployment at the Central Military Commission's political work meeting, with no further references to Xi.
Over the past few years, there have been many articles in the CCP's military newspaper and party media discussing ideological transformation. For example, on July 9, 2025, the military newspaper published an article titled "Enhancing the Consciousness and Thoroughness of Ideological Transformation," which referenced Xi's deployment at the Central Military Commission's political work meeting, prioritising "enhancing the consciousness and thoroughness of ideological transformation," and mentioning "Xi Thought" and Xi's military strengthening thought. Beyond that, there was no additional mention of Xi in the extensive discussion.
On September 27, 2024, the military newspaper published an article titled "Consciously Carrying Out Ideological Transformation to the End," where the second paragraph referred to "Chairman Xi," stating that "Xi Thought is contemporary Chinese Marxism, 21st-century Marxism, and the most vivid Marxism for addressing today's issues," thereby emphasising the need for persistent application.
On July 23, 2024, the Military Daily published an article titled 'Consciously Strengthening Ideological Transformation,' which also referenced Xi Jinping's directives and the concept of 'Xi Thought.' The article stressed the importance of 'loyalty to the Party,' asserting that one must 'resolutely respond to the Party Central Committee's advocacy, firmly execute the decisions made by the Party Central Committee, and steadfastly avoid actions that the Party Central Committee prohibits, ensuring consistency in loyalty to the Party and unity of knowledge and action.'
These articles were all released after the news of Xi's stroke surfaced following the Third Plenary Session of 2024 in July. Additionally, an article by a Military Daily commentator published on June 23, 2024, titled 'Enhancing the Consciousness and Thoroughness of Ideological Transformation,' also focused on Xi's speech at the Central Military Commission's political work conference. It stated, 'We must seriously study and implement Chairman Xi's important speech, promoting a deep and practical approach to political military construction,' highlighting the need to earnestly learn 'Xi Thought,' study Xi's strong military ideology, 'learn Chairman Xi's important speeches, and deepen the learning and education of the Chairman's responsibility system,' and 'continuously consolidate and expand the educational achievements of learning and implementing Xi Thought.'
Revisiting the January 17, 2023, article in the Military Report titled 'Entering Thought and Transforming Thought, Entering Work and Promoting Work', it articulates Xi's strong military thought: 'Arm the entire military, enter thought and transform thought, enter work and promote work...'. Xi's strong military thought 'has opened a new frontier in the development of Marxist military theory... has charted the direction and path for building a world-class military, and has raised the spiritual banner for all military personnel to strive for a strong military', 'addresses the questions of our time, meets practical needs, resolves real issues, and drives construction and development', 'serves as the fundamental guideline for comprehensively advancing the strong military cause and a powerful tool for strategic planning...', and emphasizes the need to 'always be loyal to the core, support the core, and safeguard the core', among other points, with an abundance of flattery evident in the text.
It is clear that last year's Third Plenary Session marked a significant turning point, as the Military Report increasingly downplays Xi, with previous articles of flattery becoming less frequent after 2025.
4. In addition, the article 'Purifying Party Character through Constant Practice' published on the 9th emphasises that 'personal interests must be subordinate to the interests of the entire party, and the interests of individual party components must be subordinate to the interests of the whole party'. The article references 'Chairman Xi' and 'Xi Thought'. This could be interpreted as a reminder for Xi and other senior officials to strengthen their party character and align with the broader interests.
In comparison to the military newspaper article titled "Consciously Strengthening Party Spirit Cultivation" published on July 3, 2024, this article places a strong emphasis on loyalty, particularly loyalty to Xi Jinping. It asserts that "Party members and cadres must continuously enhance their political training, improve their political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, strictly adhere to political discipline and political rules, and consistently align with the Party Central Committee, with Xi Jinping at its core, in terms of political stance, direction, principles, and path."
This suggests that the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) interpretation of party spirit can be adjusted as needed.
5. In the article titled "The More Thorough the Anti-Corruption Struggle, the More Solid the Foundation for a Century of Struggles," published on the 13th, it is surprising that the first paragraph mentions the "September 3" military parade without any reference to Xi. The main message here is about "strengthening the Party's absolute leadership over the military," stating that "the comprehensive and thorough elimination of toxic influences has reinforced the Party's leadership over our military, which had been weakened for a time," and that "the investigation and handling of a series of major corruption cases involving He Wei Dong, Miao Hua, and others represents a resolute struggle to safeguard the political foundation of the Party's absolute leadership over the military." Notably, "Chairman Xi" is mentioned only once throughout the article.
Does the statement "the comprehensive and thorough elimination of toxic influences has reinforced the Party's leadership over our military, which had been weakened for a time" imply that Xi's dominance has disrupted the political ecology of the military?
In contrast, the military newspaper article published on March 7, 2024, titled "Using Correct Conduct and Strict Discipline to Combat Corruption as an Important Focus," leads to a similar conclusion regarding Xi being weakened. In that article, "Chairman Xi" is mentioned multiple times, along with a reference to the loyalty phrase "two four four two."
The authors mentioned above hail from various military theatres. It is clear that in light of reports suggesting that Xi Jinping has lost military authority, the reporting principles of the military newspaper have also shifted. Each military unit likely understands the underlying issues, which account for the repeated diminishment of Xi in articles since 2025. This suggests that the senior generals across the military are aware that Xi's military power is no longer effective or that he has literally become 'Chairman Xi'; otherwise, the tone of the articles would not be as it is.
If the military newspaper's articles are downplaying Xi, can we expect Zhang Youxia, the first vice chairman of the Military Commission, who is rumoured to actually hold military power, to sincerely praise Xi?
On November 12, following other high-ranking officials, Zhang Youxia published an article titled 'High-Quality Advancement of National Defence and Military Modernisation' on People's Day, which appears to mention Xi multiple times. However, compared to similar articles from 2024 and 2021, the tone of flattery has been considerably toned down.
In my view, Zhang Youxia is still playing along before the Chinese Communist Party's elders unveil the truth, aiming to confuse external perceptions and extend the internal power dynamics within the CCP. However, like Hu Chunhua, he seems to be overreaching, which has led to some awkwardness on his part.
(First published by the People News) △
News magazine bootstrap themes!
I like this themes, fast loading and look profesional
Thank you Carlos!
You're welcome!
Please support me with give positive rating!
Yes Sure!