Posted on 06/19/2025 2:58:26 PM PDT by george76
Winston Churchill once described watching the inner workings of the USSR’s Marxists as “bulldogs fighting under a carpet.” You could hear the snarling and see the movement, but until the dogs emerged, no one knew what was really happening underneath. Today, there’s extraordinary commotion under China’s carpet, and mounting evidence suggests President Xi Jinping may have been overthrown in a silent coup.
The clues are becoming unmistakable: systematic purges of Xi loyalists throughout the military, rumors of suspicious deaths and “suicides” of senior generals who were once firmly in his camp. If true, they are clear signs of elite rebellion against his increasingly desperate rule. The same ruthlessness that Xi displayed when he publicly humiliated former leader Hu Jintao at the 2022 Party Congress may now be coming back to haunt him.
Xi‘s Military Fortress Crumbles..
Napoleon once observed that “an army marches on its stomach,” meaning soldiers fight best when they’re well-fed and secure. It’s a truth that Xi Jinping may be learning too late. As China’s economy starves, so does the loyalty of its military, the people and the Party.
China’s military, supposedly Xi’s most reliable power base, is in complete disarray. Since December 2023, over 15 senior People’s Liberation Army officers have been purged, including General He Weidong, Xi’s own deputy, who was ousted in 2025 for alleged corruption. Admiral Miao Hua, a trusted Fujian ally, followed the same path as former Defense Ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, their personal loyalty proving no protection.
More ominously, unverified reports suggest He Weidong may have committed suicide, echoing the suspicious deaths of other high-ranking officials who fell from Xi’s grace. When military leaders start dying under mysterious circumstances, it signals something far more serious than routine anti-corruption campaigns.
But here’s what makes this purge different: it’s happening against the backdrop of economic collapse. With tax revenues plummeting and local governments drowning in $13 trillion of debt, even Xi’s military allies are questioning whether they’re backing a sinking ship. Leaders throughout the system face a stark choice: eliminate Xi before he eliminates them or watch him drag the entire Party down with his failures.
Economic Catastrophe Fuels Political Crisis
Xi’s domestic mismanagement has pushed the Chinese Communist Party to the edge of legitimacy. The real estate sector, once the engine of Chinese growth, has collapsed spectacularly, with construction starts plummeting 23.8% by May 2025, sparking worker unrest across the country. Meanwhile, the demographic time bomb created by the one-child policy continues ticking, burdening an aging population with unsustainable social costs.
His zero-COVID lockdowns triggered the rare public protests of 2022, while his aggressive trade policies backfired catastrophically, provoking punishing U.S. tariffs and driving allies like Vietnam to pivot toward Washington. Xi’s abrasive “wolf warrior” diplomacy has systematically alienated China’s traditional partners, while his attempts to weaponize rare earth minerals have only accelerated global efforts to find alternative suppliers.
With GDP growth collapsing and youth unemployment soaring, the Party’s core promise, delivering prosperity in exchange for political submission, is crumbling. Non-Xi factions within the CCP increasingly fear that economic pain could ignite mass revolt, threatening their own survival unless they act decisively to remove him.
Elite Rebellion Beneath The Surface
Though heavily veiled by the CCP’s penchant for secrecy, signs of elite dissent are emerging. Reports indicate that General Zhang Youxia and Party elders like Wen Jiabao have privately criticized Xi’s leadership, while academic Zhang Yingjie publicly called his system “hopeless,” a remarkably bold statement in today’s China.
The suppressed “Peng Lifa” protests of 2022, where citizens called for Xi’s removal, demonstrated that public frustration extends far beyond the Party elite. Xi’s systematic humiliation of rivals, epitomized by his treatment of Hu Jintao, has cornered potential allies who now face their own political extinction unless they fight back.
As Churchill’s bulldogs fight beneath the surface, China’s leaders may be quietly plotting Xi’s removal, driven by the existential fear of Party collapse. However, these moves must navigate Xi’s extensive surveillance apparatus, leaving the fundamental question shrouded in uncertainty.
The Secrecy Paradox
Xi’s obsession with controlling information creates its own leadership problem, in a system where information flows only upward and criticism is lethal, even Xi may not fully grasp the true extent of the rebellion brewing beneath him.
What Comes Next?
The evidence, military purges, economic crisis, elite dissent and public unrest paint a picture of a regime in profound crisis. Yet Xi’s ultimate fate remains hidden beneath China’s carpet of secrecy. Has he been overthrown in a silent coup, or is he desperately battling to crush his enemies before they can move against him?
The answer will become clear at the 2027 Party Congress, when China’s leadership succession becomes impossible to hide. Until then, the international community should maintain maximum pressure through targeted tariffs, human rights advocacy and support for democratic alternatives in the region.
Churchill’s bulldogs continue their hidden fight, and the world can only watch the movement beneath China’s carpet, waiting to see which dog emerges victorious, or whether they all perish in a revolt by the masses.
Haha. It’s a curse.
The devil you know...
I watched a documentary on Stalin’s purges and it took the view that it got rid of old school calvary officers that were reluctant to accept modern tactics involving tanks among other things.
Yes there is disruption among the officer corps but it eventually opened up slots for students of modern mobile warfare like Zhukhov.
Wish I could remember it’s name.
To the forum here;
Any chance at all we retake Bagram AFB in Afghanistan and keep it for us again? I’ve no doubt we could and maybe we should have it if China is disintegrating.
Could it be just maybe that the “deep state” is not responsible for everything and this is the result of Xi not really being a supreme all knowledgeable being.
Sounds to me like his plans are falling apart and were built on a house of cards
Little bit of poetic justice if the China virus sped up the fall
General He Weidong... Not to be confused with the Roman Proconsul Bigus Dickus.
Aren’t you telling the same story told about Putin and Russia.
Same Intelligence Agency (”Deep State”) propaganda IMHO.
An unusual aspect of the Chinese system is that the party and government leadership are located in an administrative and residential compound known as the Zhongnanhai complex, immediately west of the Forbidden City. Much like Russia’s Kremlin, Churchill’s bulldogs do their fighting in the equivalent of a cloistered elite institute at the traditional apex of the Chinese empire.
If you believe that all is well in Russia and China and doom sayers are just deep state propagandists then I guess you would be right.
However I believe that decades long rule by one unchallenged man ruling a country can result in negative outcomes, deep state or not.
In the case of both Russia and China I think that is happening.
I’m still betting that China’s “tang ping” completely destroys grandpa and grandma Han who rule China. These old Chinese are the remnants of China’s one child abortion policy, and they ain’t doing too grand.
China is ruled by old goats in walkers and the tang ping (lying flat) heirs (millennials and GenX) are revolting. They have had enough of grandpa’s bull crap.
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