We are again hearing that Dictator Xi is about to ousted or demoted in obedience to forces behind the scenes that have become more powerful than Xi (“Is Chinese President Xi Jinping on his way out?,” New York Post, June 28, 2025).
The commentator, Gregory Slayton, a former U.S. diplomat, reviews some of the same clues we noted in a previous post and suggests that Xi will either be retiring in August “or take a purely ceremonial position.”
Rumors that Xi is about to be shucked are nothing new.
But never have we seen the recent purges (and mysterious deaths) of dozens of People’s Liberation Army generals loyal to Xi; all replaced by non-Xi loyalists.
Zhang Youxia, with whom Xi had a major falling out after [he had helped] Xi secure an unprecedented third five-year term, is now the de facto leader of the PLA….
Meanwhile, Xi’s personal protective detail has recently been halved. What world leader cuts his own security?
These and other incidents—like the underpromoting of Xi Jinping’s recent meeting with Belarus dictator Alexander Lukashenko, at which Xi “looked tired, uninterested—even defeated…are just a few of many unusual signs from Beijing that signal major changes in the CCP power structure. Although not yet certain, it appears that Zhang Youxia and CCP elders have chosen Wang Yang, whom Deng Xiaoping lifted out of obscurity and who served as a successful technocrat until his forced retirement in 2023, to be the next CCP chairman.”
Most of this analysis echoes the interpretations and guesses of others. But Slayton seems to go further by suggesting that the ascendancy of Wang Yang, if it happens, would portend a kinder and gentler domestic and foreign policy.
Xi Jinping once again proved the adage that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” May his replacement learn from the success of the global West (including Asia’s most successful countries) and lead his nation onto the oftentimes messy but ultimately rewarding path of free markets, free people, real democracy, and the rule of law.
We can hope. But Xi is not an aberration in the sequence of CCP despots. So let’s not assume that if his successor mouths certain words, the Chinese Communist Party will now embrace free minds and free markets.
Also see:
Lei’s Real Talk: Video: “Who Will Lead China Next?”
