As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prepares to celebrate a hundred years of its founding on July 1, contradictory strands are evident in China and its authoritarian tendencies are intensifying domestically, said Jianli Yang, a Chinese dissident and son of a former Chinese Communist Party leader.
Jianli, in an opinion piece in The Hill said, as China's global geopolitical prominence grows, its authoritarian tendencies are intensifying domestically. The party's focus on survival is natural because, since its founding and the creation of the People's Republic, Beijing has always attempted to reinforce CCP primacy.
He added that everything positive that has happened in China since 1949 is credited to the party. A 1950s-era propaganda song popularized the slogan, "Without the Communist Party, there would be no new China." That song could be sung today with a twist: "Without the CCP and Xi Jinping, there would be no Chinese Dream.
Citing the various media report, Jianli said in January 2020, the disciplinary committee decreed that any official who "voluntarily surrendered" in Xi's anti-corruption campaign "would be shown leniency" and those who did not and continued accepting bribes "would be dealt with harshly."
Lai Xiaomin evidently was held up as an example of one who did not cooperate.
The January death sentence was imposed on Lai Xiaomin, former chairman of China Huarong Asset Management, for accepting bribes worth USD 279 million USD shook the Chinese bureaucracy, the latest corruption conviction among government and party officials. His execution reportedly has led to confessions from others for accepting bribes, but it was an unusual sentence for bribery and other financial crimes.
Jianli, who is founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China, said China's anti-corruption campaign appears to be continuing, as evidenced by the new confessions by party officials as the centennial celebration approaches. So, while the CCP prepares to celebrate, many Chinese citizens will continue to die. Reporting on the centenary preparations, the authorities have stepped up efforts to limit dissent, signaling that officials know "the party must do more to strengthen public loyalty and fortify its control of society."
"This appears to be why the anti-corruption was begun in the first place -- to fortify Xi's leadership position and to ensure that no party dissent is visible. So much for 100 years of celebration," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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