Chinese Internal Politics
- Thread starter FairAndUnbiased
- Start date
If Hua Chunying is promoted to a vice minister position does that mean Zhao Lijian might be back?!
Don't think so, I always thought Zhao's rise to his posting wasn't a result of actual merit but of populism based on the comments he made when he was posted to Pakistan... but also the Party needed someone who wasn't scared to deuce it out with the reporters of BBC and CNN, showing that the country won't bend to the China-bashing headlines of Trump and BoJo - Zhao was that guy, and he was really good at it. That time has past now, I believe the events of the last ~5 years has established that China is a superpower, even Five Eye nations know better than to stir sh*t with the PRC. With the shifting geopolitical winds, the Party now needs to convey a message of cooperation to the Global South and smaller countries to build bridges, and there's generally less of a need to firefight headlines with hostile wolf warrior diplomacy. That's my interpretation of why Zhao was reshuffled from the deck to a lessor almost obscure post in the Foreign Ministry... or at least that's my reading of the tea leaves, I could be completely wrong. I just can't see him being brought back to the spotlight.
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Rumors according to who? Their network was destroyed during the late Hu era, when the state and party were a complete mess. It's very difficult to believe they could survive in the current counter-intelligence environment on the mainland after a decade of Xi.
he looks like he's on 1hp
Zhao Lijian was shifted to the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs whose role is this:
The Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs develops policies concerning land and maritime boundaries, guides and coordinates external work concerning oceans and seas, manages land boundary delimitation and demarcation and joint inspections with neighboring countries, handles external boundary matters and cases concerning territories, maps and place names, and engages in diplomatic negotiations on maritime delimitation and joint development.
That means Zhao Lijian is dealing with the SCS, India-China border, and Diaoyu Islands issues. I'm not sure not if you have noticed but those areas, particularly the SCS, got pretty rough recently. In my opinion, Zhao Lijian, if anything, got promoted to a position in which he can walk the walk.
Weren't those rumors started from a Twitter account which always had enmity towards Xi Jinping?
I think we shouldn't dismiss the possibility that Qin Gang was sacked for political/non health reasons, as there are still many signs of that around. Perhaps that last photo was agreed to be staged on purpose to let Qin Gang step down. It could be the same with his state councillor position, maybe CPC doesn't want to do a ruthless purge on such a sensitive position. Still I hope everything is ok with Qin Gang.
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I don't disagree at all with what you're saying, but when was the last time someone from that specific department made headways towards a higher posting in the State Council or elite politics?
We don't know the quality of intelligence gathering capability, particular for human agents/assets. For all we know, they are paying tons of money for low-quality or average information. I'm currently in China now, and a white tourist would stick out like a sore thumb and easy to track, monitor, and survey. They would have to pay a lot of money to convert a local Chinese, and even then, the quality of intel might be pretty normal or average. Knowing American culture, they would spin that is as a huge progress, lie, cheat, steal is their modus operandi.