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Since early 2012, when then Chongqing police Chief Wang Lijun attempted to defect to the U.S., an intense political drama has been playing out in China. This drama, titled "The Battle at Zhongnanhai," has had multiple episodes, including the downfall of Bo Xilai, the smashing of "flies," and the "tiger hunt" of Zhou Yongkang and Xu Caihou. Many people are expecting the next episode to be the capture of the "spider" (Jiang Zemin). [1]
Don't underestimate the drama. It is a battle between China's current top leader Xi Jinping and a former top leader, Jiang Zemin, with the full support of Jiang's faction. Also, it breaks the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP's) long tradition of confining their operations and in-fighting to a closed circle. It is the first time that the CCP has openly displayed its internal struggle on the world stage and it even uses the world stage to conduct its campaign.
Fora battle with such high stakes, it means life and death to those involved. Xi Jin ping was reported to have said that he is willing to continue the fight even at the cost of his personal life or personal reputation. [2] He could lose more than just his political life. The August 2014 issue of Hong Kong's Trend Magazine quoted a source identified as "a top Chinese Communist Party official who said that Xi Jinping has, to date, survived six assassination attempts"and that"it was CCP officials who had hired assassins to kill Xi." [3]
Political researchers around world are scratching their heads, trying to figure out what is going on in China and what will happen next.
For readers who are not familiar with the terms "tiger" and "fly," the CCP's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) used them in its anticorruption campaign to refer to corrupt high-ranking and lower-level officials, respectively. The CCDI has also introduced the terms "big tigers" (top-level officials) and "old tigers" (retired top-level officials). [4] Zhou Yongkang, a Politburo Standing Committee member and the security czar in China, is the largest "big tiger" to be caged so far. The New York Times introduced a term "spider" for Jiang Zemin, referring to his ability to build the large web that constitutes his faction. Of course, if he...