Xi Jinping has greatly expanded his power and authority within China since rising to the presidency in 2013. In similarly authoritarian systems, political disappearances, assassinations, and abductions frequently rise. Throughout 2023, observers have noticed these events playing out in China. Even the most powerful and high-profile Chinese politicians have fallen victim to secretive disappearances and abductions, sometimes with little or no public explanation.
Straight Arrow News contributor Larry Lindsey believes these events are not coincidental. Lindsey argues that the disappearances of several top-level politicians reveal an unstable Xi Jinping, one fearful of challenges to his power and always searching for expendable scapegoats.
Xi is unpopular. Now, if you’re unpopular, and you’re a dictator, there’s two things you got to worry about. First, you find scapegoats so you don’t get the blame and that’s one explanation for what happened. Another is that he’s paranoid about being replaced. And that certainly makes sense as well.
Well, no one really knows what’s going on in China but you can make a guess. And the best indicator is U.S. policy. We sent a whole string of envoys to China. And the goal of each of those envoys — these are people like Cabinet members — their visit was considered a success if it ended with a meeting with Xi.
Well, why would we do that? First of all, we’re trying to reassure Xi that we have no desire to see regime change. Even if he’s paranoid, we’re trying to at least make him a little less paranoid about our involvement. But more importantly, it’s proof that the U.S. government knows that all those disappearances were probably not a coincidence.
