Some analysts have said that the purge suggests that political infighting within the communist regime has intensified.
News Analysis
In what has been described by one China expert as potentially among the “most dangerous developments in the world today,” Gen. He Weidong, the third-in-command of communist China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and several other military leaders, have reportedly been arrested amid the Chinese regime’s ongoing military purge.
It’s unclear whether Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping or his political enemies were behind the alleged purge of the Fujian clique, one of two groups considered to be Xi’s allies. The possibility of the second scenario has raised some concerns that Xi may become more aggressive on the international front if he believes that he’s on the verge of losing power.
He, the second-ranked vice chairman of the CCP’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and a member of the Party’s Politburo, has not been seen in public since March 11, when he attended this year’s closing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the Chinese regime’s rubber-stamp legislature and the highest state organ of power.
During the two weeks, He and the CMC’s first-ranked vice chairman, Zhang Youxia, were both absent from a seminar that marked the CCP’s enactment of the Anti-Secession Law 20 years ago. The law targets so-called Taiwan separatists. Neither were they seen by Xi’s side during his visit to China’s southwestern Yunnan Province. Their absences were considered unusual because such events had previously been attended by at least one of the two CMC vice chairmen.
Zhao Lanjian, a former investigative journalist in China who is now based in the United States, recently told The Epoch Times that at least three sources had confirmed to him that He had been detained on March 11.
According to Zhao Lanjian, who first reported He’s alleged arrest on social media platform X on March 13, the PLA general was taken away shortly after the NPC session and subsequently had a heart attack and was detained at the 301 Hospital, a top PLA hospital that treats the CCP’s high-level officials. The hospital is often mentioned in rumors concerning political assassinations within the Chinese regime.
Zhao Lanjian cited one of the sources, saying that the CMC is reviewing He’s speeches as CMC vice chairman, along with documents, photos, and videos involving him, to remove his influence.
The information was corroborated by Cai Shenkun, a China affairs commentator who previously broke the stories of the removals of former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and Adm. Miao Hua from their posts.
In a YouTube livestream on March 24, Cai said the PLA’s theater command leaders have been notified of He’s arrest.
By Lily Zhou
