It can be lonely at the top. And that’s just how China’s leader likes it

Xi’s anti-corruption campaign tightens his hold on China’s political system

Activelifezero.com – China’s political elite is entering a major closed-door gathering in Beijing with an unusually large number of seats left empty. The absences reflect a sweeping anti-corruption drive that has removed officials from across the Communist Party, the military and the state bureaucracy — while further concentrating power around leader Xi Jinping.

More than 200 senior party figures are expected to take part in this week’s meeting, but attendance is set to be historically low after a succession of investigations, expulsions and unexplained disappearances from public life. The gathering comes a year before a more consequential leadership meeting next fall, when Xi is widely expected to pursue an unprecedented fourth term.

For officials throughout China’s governing system, the question is increasingly who may be targeted next. For Xi, however, the campaign has reduced the prospect of any organized challenge from rival figures or factions.

A purge reaching the highest levels

In recent months, the pace of disciplinary action has accelerated to levels not seen for decades. The campaign has extended into areas traditionally viewed as politically protected, including the armed forces, intelligence services, the judiciary and the party bodies responsible for enforcing internal discipline.

The Central Military Commission, normally made up of seven members and responsible for the Communist Party’s top military decisions, has been reduced to two members. Xi is one of them. The party’s 24-member Politburo has also shrunk to 21 members.

In the three weeks before the Beijing meeting, the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection, known as the CCDI, issued almost daily announcements involving detentions, investigations or expulsions. The stream of notices has underscored the uncertainty facing senior officials even after years of loyalty to the leadership.

Xi, now 73, has made the fight against corruption a defining element of his rule since taking power more than 14 years ago. Millions of lower-level officials have been disciplined or purged during that period. More than 500 officials at ministerial rank were investigated between 2012 and 2022, then convicted, removed from office and expelled from the party. More than 410 additional officials have been purged in the past three years alone.

“Turn the blade inward”

Xi used that phrase in 2022 when calling for scrutiny of the officials responsible for policing party discipline. The message was clear: even those overseeing the anti-corruption machinery could become targets.

Earlier this year, he told party cadres that the corruption problem “remains grave” and warned that the party still contained many “two-faced people.” He described the effort to eliminate graft as a “never-ending struggle.”

Supporters portray the campaign as an attempt to impose discipline on a vast bureaucracy and confront entrenched corruption. Its breadth also has major political consequences. Investigations can quickly end the career of a senior official, and those found guilty generally disappear from public view even after serving prison terms.

Senior figures suddenly fall from view

The investigation into Huang Qifan sent a jolt through Chinese political circles. Huang had been mayor of Chongqing, one of China’s largest cities, and developed a reputation as an exceptionally durable political operator. He served under six Communist Party secretaries in Chongqing and outlasted major upheavals that sent two of them to prison, including a former Xi rival.

After retiring, Huang remained highly visible, appearing at conferences and on television to discuss the Chinese economy. Once his downfall became known, people who had worked with him moved rapidly to erase references to him from their social-media accounts, reflecting a familiar pattern when a once-prominent official becomes politically dangerous to be associated with.

Beijing deputy mayor Xia Linmao was also removed from public life with striking speed. Days earlier, state television had shown him attending a meeting with Walmart chief executive John Furner and other American business leaders. Xia was seen taking notes as Beijing officials encouraged the executives to expand their business in the Chinese capital.

Other cases have unfolded more slowly and quietly. Ma Xingrui, an aerospace engineer who later became a senior party official and once led the vast western region of Xinjiang, had not appeared publicly for five months before authorities announced in April that he was under investigation.

A system built around personal authority

The campaign’s reach illustrates the extent to which political security in China now depends on continued confidence from the top. Officials who once appeared well connected, experienced or indispensable have proved vulnerable. Even figures perceived as close to Xi have not been immune.

This has important implications for the Communist Party’s next leadership cycle. With leading military officers, regional officials and senior political figures removed or under pressure, there are fewer established centers of influence capable of shaping the succession process independently of Xi.

The contrast with democratic electoral politics is stark. In the United States, President Donald Trump is confronting midterm elections that could affect his party’s position in government, and constitutional limits prevent a president from serving beyond two terms. Xi faces no comparable electoral test and has already reshaped China’s political rules to permit extended rule.

As the party prepares for its next major leadership gathering, the anti-corruption drive serves both as a continuing warning and as a mechanism of control. It signals that rank, history and apparent proximity to power offer no guaranteed protection. At the same time, it leaves Xi in a stronger position than ever to direct the party, the military and the world’s second-largest economy.