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Notes -
Various interpretations, all positive for the US.
Either:
Xi's soft power in China is limited. From the looks of it, Xi wants to invade Taiwan, and faced real push back. If the generals were just old, they would have been forced to retire with awards and honorary titles. The corruption allegations are punishment for pushing back against Xi. An overt purge is only needed when gentle methods fail.
China's inner circle is compromise-able and the CIA is pulling off Eli Cohen-Mossad style Hollywood operations on the regular. As Reddit tier-list subs would say: 'CIA upscale'.
Xi is moving to a hard dictatorship, the canonical imperial Chinese failure mode. This story can only end with the XiongNu buring Xian, and Xi being taken as a sex-slave.
Purges have long been the norm in CCP China, often done silently. The high profile and overt nature of it signals weakness by Xi. Jack Ma's (the the Chinese software startup industry's) purge was along similar lines. But, in that case, Xi could frame the narrative as communism vs capitalism, infrastructure vs consumption. Treason and corruption charges towards long-believed patriots of the highest level never sell the same.
IDK, it really depends on how well Xi can spin these allegations for consumption by the general public (which, in turn, is easier to pull off if the allegations are in fact true, but not impossible even otherwise, especially when the state already has a vice-grip on the media). If he plays his cards right, Xi could bolster his domestic legitimacy as a “good czar (formerly) surrounded by bad boyars”
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