In a redux of the infamous Mao-era campaign, Xi aims to sow division among CCP elites, in order to more easily purge their ranks, says a China expert.
Two articles by China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) chief last month evoked echoes of a particularly dark period in China’s history, leading to talk of a newly minted “Five-Anti Campaign.”
Writing in Qiushi (求是; Qiúshì), the theoretical journal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on April 15, MSS head Chen Yixin outlined a campaign of “five anti-struggles” against forces that are said to threaten Chinese national security. The article was followed by an April 29 article in the state journal Study Times (学习时报; Xuéxí Shíbào), also highlighting the campaign.
A China expert told The Epoch Times the campaign aims to further consolidate party leader Xi Jinping’s hold over the China Communist Party (CCP) and purge any remaining opposition to him and his policies.
Billed as an anti-corruption campaign, the original “Five-Anti Campaign” was a key part of the CCP’s effort to root out capitalism and private property. Launched in 1952, the purge ultimately ensnared hundreds of thousands of businesses and led to many deaths.
The new campaign, with its five pillars, will, among other things, target those Xi identifies as “spies, traitors or other ill-loyal individuals” among the ranks of the CCP and the Chinese military, according to Frank Lehberger, a Europe-based China analyst.
Mr. Lehberger has 30 years of experience working as a political analyst and consultant in Asia, including Tibet. He is a senior fellow at the Usanas Foundation, a public policy think tank focused on geopolitics and security.
“To pre-empt any further opposition and obstacles to his plans in the near future, Xi has now given the go ahead for a political campaign to rid the CCP top levels of stubborn forces that still manage to oppose or elude him,” Mr. Lehberger told The Epoch Times in an email.
“This is the main reason why the Chinese minister of State Security (MSS) Chen Yixin just announced the ‘New 5-Anti campaign’ (N5A 新五反运动).”
The original Five-Anti Campaign was launched in response to a call issued by CCP founder Mao Tse-tung in his opening address to the third session of the National Committee of the People’s Political Consultative Conference (PPCC) in October 1951.
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