[People News] On January 28, exiled Chinese democracy activist Sheng Xue, now living in Canada, received another tip from a former CCP military officer. The content was chilling. According to the source, after the arrest of Zhang Youxia, Xi Jinping is carrying out an extremely brutal purge. It is said Xi has already taken control of the situation, and all of Zhang Youxia’s and Liu Zhenli’s aides have been killed. However, these claims have not been confirmed by official sources or other channels.

Below is the dialogue Sheng Xue posted on X (Twitter) between herself and the former CCP military officer.

X: It’s over… Zhang is finished. Xi’s side has launched a full-scale crackdown. The killing is extremely severe. All of Zhang Youxia’s and Liu Zhenli’s orderlies have been killed. Not a single one was left alive.

SX: That’s incredibly ruthless.

X: Over 200 people have been arrested just in the Southern Theater Command.

SX: If several theater commands are being swept like this, then many people in the military must have been detained…

X: He’s breaking them apart and defeating them one by one.

SX: Do you know of arrests in other military regions or theater commands?

X: Yes, people are also being arrested in the Eastern Theater Command.

SX: Do you know any specific details?

X: I don’t know specifics. Someone only told me the core situation today. You can share it publicly.

SX: Okay, go ahead.

X: Xi Jinping is completely copying the practices of the Ming Dynasty. First, his Central Guard Bureau has now expanded to four times its previous size. It used to have just over 1,000 personnel; now it has 12,500. Second, Xi has privately established an organization similar to the Ming Dynasty’s Eastern Depot and Western Depot secret police. Nationwide, this organization has between 200,000 and 350,000 people. Two sources gave me figures; one exaggerated and said 350,000.

SX: Under what name did he establish these “Eastern and Western Depots”?

X: Under the name of the Discipline Inspection Commission — the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

SX: But the CCDI is a public institution. If it expanded on such a massive scale, the outside world should have reported it already.

X: In reality, the CCDI has layers of structure underneath. Each province has a discipline inspection secretary, and at the same time another person is assigned to monitor that secretary — they monitor each other. You need to understand that CCDI secretaries are not responsible to provincial Party secretaries. Nor are they responsible to the Politburo Standing Committee. There are military discipline inspectors and central discipline inspectors. These discipline secretaries report directly to Xi Jinping and to no one else.

SX: So the military discipline inspectors report to Xi? Or the CCDI too?

X: It’s two separate groups, like the old Eastern and Western Depots — the executors. Someone told me today there are about 350,000 nationwide, others say 200,000.

SX: With such a huge structure, can Xi manage it all by himself? He’s already head of more than a dozen leading groups.

X: Cai Qi is actually managing it for him.

SX: Even if Cai Qi manages it, he doesn’t have deep roots in either the Party or the military. Why would others obey him?

X: He doesn’t have roots, but the way this system operates is identical to the Ming Dynasty’s Eastern and Western Depots. He has already fully taken control. The people involved are extremely ruthless. When they arrest someone and that person resists, they just kill them on the spot.

SX: Are people really being killed during arrests? Has that happened before?

X: Yes. In the Eastern Theater Command, two people resisted and were shot dead on the spot — shot in the head with pistols in front of everyone. At meetings, if someone objects or isn’t afraid to speak up, they arrest them during the meeting. Just like North Korea’s terror politics — you get called out at a meeting and immediately taken away. If someone resists, they shoot them in the head right there, no hesitation.

SX: Among previously purged well-known figures, have any now simply disappeared? Before, even fallen officials still had some public trace, but now there’s nothing.

X: Exactly. These Eastern and Western Depot–type organizations do the dirty work. They are not subject to local law or military control. They’re not military police, and they’re not officially CCDI either. But they have direct execution power — they can kill first. That authority was granted by Xi.

SX: So they completely operate above all local Party and state structures and constraints?

X: All of Zhang Youxia’s and Liu Zhenli’s orderlies were killed. Not one left alive. Their aides and housekeepers were all killed — nearly 50 people in total. This is real. They’re already in a state of extreme fear.

SX: Where exactly were Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli arrested?

X: They were arrested inside their residential compound, not on the way to a meeting.

SX: At night? So they were taken from their homes?

X: Yes, probably around midnight or 2 a.m. It happened at night. Their guards — they had machine-gun posts at their compound — all the aides and bodyguards were wiped out.

SX: Do people at their level live in military compounds or private compounds?

X: They live in private compounds — separate courtyards with several villas inside. Military Commission members at their level all live in independent villas within guarded compounds. Several villas per courtyard, with sentry posts. The guards were killed without hesitation.

SX: I still wonder how Xi’s close aides can mobilize so much force. How can Cai Qi command so many troops?

X: Cai Qi isn’t using field armies; he’s using Xi’s personal secret police forces. Xi already paved the way earlier when he reorganized the seven military regions into five theater commands and replaced all the commanders. That restructuring was his plot to replace personnel.

SX: Yes, that was clear at the time.

X: About 200,000 people nationwide were affected.

SX: 200,000 affected by the restructuring?

X: Yes. Let me give you an example: a deputy corps-level officer in the Southern Theater Command was so frightened when arrested that he urinated in his pants and shoes.

SX: Some of these officers are extremely cowardly.

X: No one dares resist. They’re in political study sessions, and suddenly armed special forces wearing helmets storm in. The shock is immense.

SX: How many troops are in a single theater command?

X: Around 200,000.

SX: If there are five theater commands, China’s total combat strength doesn’t sound that large.

X: Around 700,000 to 800,000 combat troops. China has cut its military several times. It keeps standing forces under 1.2 million. That was part of earlier agreements when joining the WTO.

SX: I don’t remember any military reduction agreement tied to WTO entry.

X: Back then, when joining the WTO, the military had 5 million troops. The U.S. pushed for reductions.

SX: WTO entry was in 2001.

X: Right. Since then, China has kept troop numbers between 1 million and 1.2 million. Also, guns and bullets are kept separate in units — soldiers’ rifles don’t have ammunition.

X: There was an incident in the 1980s when a single soldier near Tiananmen killed hundreds of PLA soldiers alone.

SX: I don’t recall that.

X: I’ll send you the story later. Since then, guns and ammunition have been stored separately. Even sentries don’t carry live rounds.

(Fact check note in original text: Refers to the 1994 Jianguomen incident involving PLA officer Tian Mingjian. The figure of 671 deaths is widely considered exaggerated; official and foreign reports put deaths at 20–30, including soldiers, police, civilians, and one Iranian diplomat. The incident did lead to stricter ammunition controls in the PLA.)

SX: So whoever has both gun and bullets would hold real power.

X: Exactly. Even the soldiers we see standing guard don’t have ammunition.

SX: But if sentries have no bullets, what’s the point of the guard post?

X: Outsiders don’t know that. Who would dare test whether the gun is loaded?

(Part one, to be continued.)
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