The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has issued a sweeping document on Party discipline and anti-corruption, prompting analysts to question whether the measures reflect growing internal power struggles around CCP leader Xi Jinping.
The document called for stronger oversight of senior officials and their family members, stricter controls on Party members, and greater limits on the authority of local officials.
The document, titled “Decision of the CCP Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning the Persistent Advancement of Full and Strict Party Self-Governance,” was released by state media Xinhua News Agency on Nov. 1. It was adopted at the CCP’s Fifth Plenum on Oct. 29.
Regime authorities were directed to investigate household assets and expenditures that appear disproportionate to officials’ legitimate incomes, paying particular attention to top officials, younger cadres, and family-based corruption. However, analysts have questioned whether the measures will be applied impartially.
Canada-based Chinese pro-democracy activist and award-winning journalist Sheng Xue told The Epoch Times that the CCP’s laws and regulations have never been applied fairly. She questioned whether Xi would investigate his own relatives, who also accumulated wealth through political connections.
Sheng argued that the measures come as the regime faces severe fiscal pressure and needs additional revenue. Ultimately, she said, those holding absolute power will decide who faces punishment.
U.S.-based China current affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan told The Epoch Times that targeting officials’ associates and scrutinizing family wealth were longstanding CCP practices. He also noted that Xi’s siblings and other relatives had been accused of exploiting political connections to amass personal wealth.
Signs of Internal Party Struggles
The document also called for stronger enforcement of Party loyalty, opposition to criticism of the central leadership, and the removal of so-called “two-faced” officials who publicly profess loyalty but act otherwise.
Sheng said Xi increasingly distrusts Party officials and relies on ideological loyalty to control them. However, this approach encourages officials to conceal their true views and only say what the supreme leader wants to hear.
“Using this standard, the majority of Party members could become targets of political purges,” she said. “The CCP’s senior leadership cannot remain safe. Internal power struggles will only become more intense.”
Tang said the anti-corruption campaign and stricter Party discipline were essentially two sides of the same coin, with corruption investigations continuing to serve as the primary instrument in internal political struggles.
Another notable feature of the document was its extensive discussion of intra-Party democracy, including calls to enforce the principle of “democracy” and prevent senior officials from exercising unchecked authority.
It specifically warned against local Party chiefs acting as dictators or demanding absolute loyalty to their personal authority.
Tang interpreted these provisions as an indirect challenge to Xi, suggesting that his position as Party leader may be weakened and that the CCP could be moving back toward collective leadership.
Tang also said that Xi’s opponents are using the language of stricter Party discipline to constrain his authority and weaken his political network, while still seeking to preserve the CCP itself.
“They cannot let the entire ship of the CCP capsize,” he said, adding that Xi’s symbolic status as the Party’s leader still serves a purpose for those seeking to maintain the regime.
U.S.-based China current affairs commentator Li Linyi offered a different interpretation, telling The Epoch Times that the document’s language did not necessarily indicate an intention by Xi to promote democracy within the Party or that it served as a subtle critique of his rule. Rather, Li argued that the restrictions on individual authority could apply to other officials while Xi remains an exception.
Justification for Political Purges
The document also credited Xi with eliminating serious threats within the Party, government, and military since the 18th Party Congress in 2012, portraying his leadership as having strengthened the CCP.
Sheng said the language appeared intended to justify Xi’s extensive political purges and reinforce the legitimacy of his campaign against other regime officials.
“Xi Jinping sees what he has done as a policy of revitalizing and strengthening the Party,” she said. “But many people believe he is destroying the Party through his anti-corruption campaign, and that it has now entered its late-stage communist era.”
She compared Xi’s increasingly suspicious leadership style to that of former CCP leader Mao Zedong in his later years, when Mao became deeply distrustful even of close associates.
Sheng said Xi’s distrust of senior officials had intensified as his purges expanded, leaving him with fewer people he could genuinely trust. She said the combination of increasingly forceful propaganda elevating Xi’s status reflected a leadership increasingly preoccupied with internal threats.
“The probability of a sudden collapse of the regime is getting higher and higher,” she said.
Tang Bing and Luo Ya contributed to this report.
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