Gillian Wong at the AP looks at how President Xi Jinping is launching an anti-corruption crackdown while also cracking down on independent critics of the regime:
Xi’s populist approach, calling for party cadres to renew their ties with ordinary people, is part of his strategy to cement control of the Communist Party, protect its image and head off any challenges to the notion of one-party rule.
The strategy also features a corruption crackdown, aimed at opponents within the party who threaten cohesion, and increasingly hard-line moves to silence influential critics on the Internet and elsewhere.
Whether those efforts are working, or are simply working against each other, might become clearer as senior party leaders prepare for a November meeting where they are expected to produce a new economic blueprint. Xi’s administration says the country needs economic reforms, but those changes will likely chafe against vested interests within the party that are tied to China’s powerful state-owned companies.
Read more about Xi’s anti-corruption crackdown, as well as the crackdown on activists, via CDT.
