'Not
fit to lead': letter attacking Xi Jinping sparks witch hunt in
Beijing
An
anonymous, online call for the president to quit has sparked a
furious manhunt for its author, betraying paranoia at the top of the
Communist party
Stuart
Leavenworth in Beijing
Friday
1 April 2016 02.22 BST
It wasn’t a very
long letter - the equivalent of about 920 words in English and it
appeared only briefly on a Chinese website.
But its content was
potentially incendiary. It called for president Xi Jinping to resign.
Many China watchers
initially dismissed it as a prank, as opposed to a sign of real
dissension within the ruling Communist party.
But only a few weeks
later, the mysterious letter has taken on a life of its own –
largely because of the government’s outsized reaction to it.
State security
agents have detained more than two dozen people thought linked to the
letter’s distribution. They scrubbed the Chinese internet of all
search terms related to it. They have also detained and harassed
family members of exiled Chinese journalist who have commented on the
letter, and even tried to get one of those commentaries retracted by
a German newspaper.
Party leaders
apparently see the letter as a real threat, some China experts have
concluded, and so they have launched a manhunt to determine how it
became an internet sensation.
“In the beginning
this letter didn’t seem like much,” said Bill Bishop, author of
the Sinocism newsletter, which tracks Chinese politics.
“But now, given
the reaction, it has become much more important. They are going after
multiple people, in China and now outside of China.”
The manhunt comes as
Xi confronts challenges on multiple fronts. China’s economy is
slowing and its state-owned industry are resisting Xi’s calls for
reform. Within the party, many functionaries are chaffing at Xi’s
anti-corruption crusade, widely seen as a way for him to consolidate
power.
The letter calling
for Xi’s resignation included a point-by-point critique of his
leadership failures. It was also written in a style – signed by
“loyal Communist party members” – that have left many wondering
who authored it.
“Comrade Xi
Jinping, we feel that you do not possess the capabilities to lead the
party and the nation into the future, and we believe that you are no
longer suitable for the post of general secretary,” the letter
stated. “For the party cause, for the long-term peace and stability
of the country, and for your own personal safety and that of your
family, we ask you to resign from all positions …”
Willy Lam, a
professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who specialises in
the party’s politics, said he did not think the letter originated
from a party official. The style and word choice, he said, suggested
it was written by a Chinese national abroad.
Yet Lam said the
letter reflected conversations that elite Chinese are having about
“the cult of personality” Xi has created for himself, and his
handling of the economy and foreign affairs. The president, he said,
may feel threatened that a letter reflecting those concerns was aired
in China, and so now he wanted to find out who was responsible.
“It speaks to the
paranoia that surrounds Xi’s leadership,” said Lam, author of a
recent book on the Chinese president called Chinese politics in the
era of Xi Jinping. “In the process of amassing all this power, he
has made multiple enemies, more than his predecessors.
“So now you have
this paradox,” added Lam. “The more power he obtains, the more
paranoid he gets.”
Chinese journalist
denounces Xi Jinping in resignation letter
Read more
The timing of the
letter’s publication also raised eyebrows. It was circulated right
before the start of China’s legislative session, a time when the
party leadership likes to project an image of national unity and
party solidarity.
The letter was first
published online by Canyu, a US-based Chinese-language website edited
by Cai Chu, a human rights activist.
As of Thursday,
Canyu was offline, the apparent victim of a hacking attack, according
to Cai.
The letter then
briefly appeared on Wujie, a Chinese news site, on 4 March. Censors
took it down the same day, but by then, it had been shared within
China and was soon republished and translated outside of the country.
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Chinese authorities
moved quickly, detaining Wujie’s staff and effectively shutting
down the site for original content. Authorities also detained a
Chinese journalist, Jia Jia, who reportedly had warned Wujie’s
editors not to republish the letter. He has since been released.
Over the last week,
two exiled Chinese journalists say they have become targets of the
manhunt.
Wen Yunchao, a New
York blogger and rights activist, reported last Friday that Guangdong
province police had detained his elderly parents and brother, and
were questioning them about Wen’s ties to the Xi letter. Wen
quickly denied having anything to do with the letter, other than
sharing it on Twitter. On Wednesday, Wen said his family members had
been released.
Chang Ping, a
Chinese journalist exiled in Germany, said his family members were
also detained by police – apparent retaliation for a commentary
Chang had written for a German newspaper, Deutsche Welle, criticising
the detention of Jia Jia. Chang, whose parents were also released
this week, said that police demanded that Chang retract the
commentary and have it taken down from the Deutsche Welle website,
which he refused to do.
Media organisations
and human rights groups have criticised China’s targeting of Wen
and Chang’s family members. Some are curious why China would go to
such repressive lengths over a 920-word letter.
“One can’t help
but notice how the tactic is backfiring,” said William Nee, a China
researcher for Amnesty International in Hong Kong. “Conducting an
aggressive manhunt against anyone allegedly involved in commenting on
the letter only serves to put more attention on the letter, giving it
a longer shelf life.”
Bishop agrees.
China’s international reputation is only being harmed by the
overreach, he said.
“If there were a
Golden Boot for own-goals,” he said, “China would win it every
year.”
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