“Chinese leader Xi Jinping is using an unprecedented anti-corruption campaign as a tool to impose autocratic control unseen in decades and purge the political field of disloyal cadres. In 2025, almost a million people fell under the repressive rink of the Communist Party.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Xi Jinping. Photo: Getty Images Source: The Wall Street Journal with reference to official statistics of the People’s Republic of China
Details: According to the publication, the campaign, which is officially presented as “anti-corruption”, has long gone beyond the fight against bribery and transformed into a mechanism of forcing absolute loyalty to Xi Jinping.
Advertising:
In 2025, the Chinese Communist Party’s disciplinary authorities prosecuted a record 983,000 people, up 10.6% from 2024, and the highest annual figure since data began being published nearly two decades ago.
Analysts point out that the wave of investigations is aimed at ensuring the unquestionable implementation of Xi Jinping’s political will before the announcement of a new five-year plan. The party’s People’s Daily newspaper has already warned that any distortion of the leader’s instructions or “bureaucratic inertia” will be regarded as a breach of discipline.
Repression reached such a level that it hit the highest echelons of power and even the “supervisors” themselves. The last meeting of the Central Discipline Commission saw the lowest turnout since 1986, with 10% of members absent. Among those missing or suspended are high-ranking generals and officials previously considered Xi’s protégés, including former Central Military Council Vice Chairman He Weidong.
At the same time, state television broadcasts show trials and “confessions” of disgraced officials, reminiscent of mass propaganda methods of the last century.
The result of total control was the paralysis of the state apparatus: more than 140 thousand officials were punished precisely for “inaction”, as the fear of making a mistake and being subject to repression forces bureaucrats to avoid making any decisions.
Those who are trying to please Xi “blindly copy trends”, massively investing in semiconductors and electric cars even where it is not economically feasible, creating financial bubbles.