That the CCP's despotic rule treats human life as worthless and has lost the support of the people is something even women and children already know. Add to this Xi Jinping — the 'Chief Accelerationist' — throwing the country into reverse gear and flooring the accelerator, together with a fundamental reversal in the international situation, and the result has been an economy in occupied China teetering on collapse, endless curses from ordinary people, and complete disillusionment among former friendly nations. As a result, voices hoping for Xi Jinping's downfall have risen one after another, and for a time 'anti-Xi' sentiment even drowned out anti-CCP sentiment altogether.
As a result, all sorts of 'gossip' stories and supposed inside secrets of the Party have circulated nonstop, like passages from some secret palace document. First came the elaborate, seemingly imminent scenario of 'Xi stepping down, Li stepping up'; then came word of a failed coup plot by generals of the Party's 'palace guard' who were subsequently purged; and most recently, rumors spread that 'Liu Yuan, son of Liu Shaoqi, unable to bear it any longer, has led other CCP "princelings" in signing a joint petition against Xi,' supposedly accusing Xi of betraying Deng Xiaoping's 'reform and opening up' line, dragging the country backward to the era of the 'Cultural Revolution,' and demanding Xi step down... My goodness! One act barely finishes before the next one takes the stage — quite the spectacle.
It is obvious that such stories were dreamed up by armchair theorists with overactive imaginations. No matter how many people or factions within the Communist Party despise Xi Jinping, or even wish to remove him and take his place, it would never happen through a script as implausible as a 'joint petition.'
Besides, wasn't it the 'princelings' themselves who decided that Xi Jinping would become Party leader in the first place? The princelings watch everything that happens domestically every single day, and meet year after year to discuss and coordinate their strategies — they haven't just woken up after a ten-year nap. Pinning all the blame entirely on Xi Jinping is inconsistent with the Party's own principle of 'collective leadership,' and frankly, it simply doesn't add up.
Regarding this rumor, I wrote on X (Twitter): 'Is Liu Yuan more formidable than Hu Jintao? Don't forget the recent "Xi steps down, Li steps up" story. This is obviously the fantasy of armchair theorists. Whoever heard of needing a joint petition before bringing down the "Gang of Four"?' Someone replied: 'You've unraveled the divide-and-conquer scheme with a single sentence.' Another said: 'Even if it's fake, it could still provoke suspicion from "Baozi" [a nickname for Xi Jinping] and force these people into open rebellion. So logically, the smart move is to remain half-skeptical and keep spreading it (fanning the flames), rather than flatly denying it.' Reading these comments, I found them quite laughable, and replied: 'If such a clumsy script could really drive a wedge into the Communist bandits, the CCP would have collapsed long ago.'
If Xi Jinping truly had no ability at all — if he really were the empty-headed fool that some self-styled clever people believe him to be — could he have thrown China into turmoil for more than a decade and even amended the constitution to make himself leader for life? I am not trying to defend Xi Jinping here. Rather, I want to raise a question: those who blame everything on Xi Jinping alone — how do they know, or prove, that everything the Communist Party is doing today is Xi's idea alone, rather than something jointly discussed and decided by the Party's red aristocratic families?
In short, the Communist Party has never been a monolithic bloc — internal power struggles have raged nonstop since the day the Party was founded. If Xi Jinping had no ability whatsoever, he would have been eliminated by rival Party members long ago. How else could he still be standing today?
Looking back at history, any revolutionary struggle capable of overturning a ruling dynasty amounts to nothing less than war. And in any clash between opposing armies, underestimating the enemy is the cardinal sin of military strategy. Even if Party leader Xi really were an empty-headed fool, and even if the Party truly had few capable people left, opposition to the CCP still needs to focus its attention on facing a formidable enemy — not pin its hopes for victory on the idea that clumsy rumors alone can demoralize the enemy's ranks.
Therefore, unless there is genuine, open confrontation within the CCP — even armed conflict — or external pressure grows so overwhelming that, without change, some of the 'princelings' would risk losing their very lives and fortunes, there is little hope of internal collapse.