[War & Business] China's Zhengfeng Movement

The scene of Tiananmen Square in Beijing on July 1st, where the 100th anniversary ceremony of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party was held. China (Beijing) = Reuters · Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] There is a word that has recently attracted global attention as the Chinese government tightens regulations on major companies, private education, and the entertainment industry: "Zhengfeng (整風)." Originally, this term is an abbreviation of "San Feng Zhengdun (三風整頓)," a campaign initiated by Mao Zedong in 1942 under the pretext of rectifying the internal atmosphere of the Chinese Communist Party to establish a dictatorship.

Mao Zedong purged numerous opposition factions under the justification of correcting three types of trends within the Communist Party: academic style (學風), party style (黨風), and literary style (文風). The so-called Cultural Revolution, carried out from 1966 to 1976, is also known as part of this Zhengfeng movement.

One of the biggest victims of this Zhengfeng movement was Xi Zhongxun, the father of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Although he was one of the eight elders of the Chinese Communist Party, he was sidelined and became a target of Zhengfeng because he openly criticized the Great Leap Forward, considered Mao’s greatest mistake. His eldest daughter, Xi Heping, could not endure the violence inflicted by the Red Guards and committed suicide. President Xi himself was rejected from joining the Communist Party for many years due to the frenzy of the Zhengfeng movement and was relegated to minor posts in rural areas.

Now, with President Xi wielding the sword of the Zhengfeng movement, the Chinese political scene is highly tense. Regulations have begun targeting all three major political factions that have long dominated China: the Shanghai clique, the Communist Youth League (Gongqingtuan), and the Princelings. Since the Shanghai clique grew around major Chinese corporations, the Communist Youth League is based on private educational foundations, and the Princelings are entangled in scandals with entertainment figures, the crackdown is so extensive that it is being described as a "21st-century Cultural Revolution."

Ironically, President Xi was able to ascend to power amid the power struggles among these three major factions. Before taking office, Xi was known for having friendly relations with all three factions and lacking a strong personal faction, which was seen as an advantage. Although he is from the Princelings, his family was sidelined after the Cultural Revolution. Having served as mayor of Shanghai, he was close to the Shanghai clique, and he also enjoyed the trust of former President Hu Jintao, who came from the Communist Youth League. Moreover, he was regarded as a yes-man who quietly followed his superiors without asserting his own colors, which led to his unanimous appointment as president without opposition from the three factions.

Now, as he prepares for a third term next fall, he is challenging the lifelong dictatorship that no politician has dared to attempt since Mao Zedong. In China, there are concerns that the ten-year presidential term system, which has been maintained since the reform and opening-up period, will be broken, disrupting the balance and checks among the factions. The Chinese-style socialism, which has developed over more than 40 years after escaping the frenzy of the Cultural Revolution’s Zhengfeng, is facing a new crisis.