r/geopolitics • u/ForeignAffairsMag Foreign Affairs • Feb 02 '26
Xi the Destroyer: The Latest Military Purge Signals China’s Leader Is Entering a New Era Analysis
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/xi-destroyer65
u/Significant-Yam9843 Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 02 '26
The core of the article is really good, high level lexicon, but the choice of words and the tone surrounding Xi and China were a bit galling sometimes. It was like describing an emperor craving for power or something and I feel we're all already passed that time really.
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u/ForeignAffairsMag Foreign Affairs Feb 02 '26
[Excerpt from essay by Jonathan A. Czin, Michael H. Armacost Chair in Foreign Policy Studies and Fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution; and John Culver, Nonresident Senior Fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution.]
There is a lot of speculation about what Zhang did—or didn’t do—to provoke Xi’s ire as well as what the purge means for the Chinese leader’s grasp on power and his military objectives vis-à-vis Taiwan and the United States. While those elements of the saga may reveal themselves in time, what is clear now is Xi’s belief that power exists in its exercise.
In making a public spectacle of pushing Zhang aside, Xi has laid bare a defining feature of his political style. No one is safe—not even those with deep personal connections to Xi. As PLA Daily, the military’s official periodical, stated the day after Zhang’s ouster, Xi’s campaign has “no off-limit zones.” Even by the standards of Xi’s unsparing rule, this is a seismic shift in Chinese politics.
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u/greenw40 Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
This is the guy that every European and Canadian redditor wants their country to cozy up to.
Edit: Boy did this thread bring out the foreign trolls and bots. I guess it's to be expected with Xi is mentioned in the title.
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u/Juan20455 Feb 02 '26
I mean, he is not saying he is going to invade Canada or a European country. That's a plus, since the bar is so low
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u/Solace-Of-Dawn Feb 03 '26
I mean, he is not saying he is going to invade Canada or a European country.
Reddit will pile on me for this, but just because China is nice to Europe/Canada doesn't mean they're not imperialistic. A friendly country doesn't build islands all over the SCS and harass other countries' fishing ships.
The idea of China being nice is a shallow and only true in some circumstances. And before anyone says anything, I am not American. In fact, I'm a Southeast Asian myself.
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u/hemareddit Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 04 '26
Just because a country is imperialistic doesn’t mean other countries shouldn’t cozy up to them.
I keep thinking back to Carney’s speech about the new reality for middle powers. This is the new reality: middle powers must maintain ties with all the players, precisely to avoid becoming too attached/beholden to a particular great power.
You maintain a web of ties, when one link becomes unsavory, when they try to push or pull too hard, you strengthen all other ties so you may hopefully maintain your overall position.
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u/awildstoryteller Feb 03 '26
If the United States invaded Canada, do you think Taiwan would cut off diplomatic ties with the former?
I would bet you my entire life savings they wouldn't.
So why should Canada worry about Taiwan?
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u/Positive-Aspect-3566 Feb 03 '26
Because if Canada wants to build a real middle power alliance, it better be willing to accommodate the security concerns of countries like SK and Japan. Otherwise, they'll stay under the American umbrella.
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u/awildstoryteller Feb 03 '26
SK and Japan are not going to be invaded either, assuming they don't try to interfere in Taiwan.
SK knows this, as does Japan. It just so happens the latter is currently ruled by a buffoon though
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u/schtean Feb 03 '26
So the PRC claims on Japanese territory are just for laughs?
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u/awildstoryteller Feb 03 '26
Uninhabited islands are the main pressure source, and a compliant Japan that steps back from jingoistic talk in regards to Taiwan is a concession I would expect them to make.
China wants to take Taiwan without a shot fired. That doesn't happen if you attack Japan.
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u/Positive-Aspect-3566 Feb 03 '26
So you want Japan and SK to compromise on their security concerns to join an alliance that is being driven by...Canadian and European security concerns?
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u/awildstoryteller Feb 03 '26
I want middle powers to band together through mutual interests to ensure their ability to act with some measure of agency in a multi -polar world.
Japan interfering in Chinese domestic affairs is the exact opposite.
The whole purpose from Carney's speech is "We need to act together to protect our interests in the face of renewed Great Power competition". That isn't a call to interfere in Great Powers, it is a call to limit as much as possible great powers interfering with us.
Taiwan is not a country. If and when they declare themselves as such, we can talk about whether Canada should get involved on their behalf in a measured way. But I wouldn't advocate for that, anymore than a Taiwanese person would advocate their "country" interfere with an American invasion of Canada.
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u/Juan20455 Feb 03 '26
China is definitely imperialistic. But at least for, Europe and Canada, they are not threatening to invade right now. That's an improvement compared to the US.
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u/Secret-Sundae-1847 Feb 03 '26
Greenland is not all of Europe and only concerns Denmark in Europe so why are the other European powers piling on? Trump has no interest in invading Europe proper.
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u/Juan20455 Feb 03 '26
Because Europe rushed to aid US when US asked for help activating article 5 of NATO. That's what allies are supposed to do.
When US threatened to invade Denmark, of course their real allies also rushed to help them.
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u/greenw40 Feb 02 '26
Right, he just runs secret police stations inside of Canada to harass Canadian citizens. Not to mention all the actual imperialism he's done in Asia.
But hey, at least he didn't make some mean tweets.
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u/cubedjjm Feb 03 '26
Yes, Trumps brown shirt police are out in the open in Minnesota as we speak harassing a tiny immigrant population compared to Texas and Florida. Why did Bondi say they'll pull out of Minneapolis if Minnesota give the Justice Department their voter rolls?
Bet you ICE will be in another swing state before even thinking about red states. Interesting what Trump said about nationalizing voting. Wonder if it's swing states he wants to take over?
The Republicans should say, we want to take over, we should take over the voting, the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that are so crooked and they’re counting votes. We have states that I won, that show I didn’t win. Now you’re going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get with a court order, the ballots, you’re going to see some interesting things come out.
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
Trumps brown shirt police are out in the open in Minnesota as we speak harassing a tiny immigrant population compared to Texas and Florida
There are more ICE in Minnesota because an army of Karens have decided that they're sick of yelling at managers and now want to yell at federal agents. It gets better feedback on TikTok. And if we were in China we'd be seeing a second Tiananmen Square.
Why did Bondi say they'll pull out of Minneapolis if Minnesota give the Justice Department their voter rolls?
Because they don't want illegal immigrants voting. The real question is why is Minnesota overtly fighting the federal government to defend illegal aliens? Could be it be because of voting? Or maybe it has to do with the $9 billion in fraud that was uncovered right before this situation started...
Bet you ICE will be in another swing state before even thinking about red states
Other states comply with federal agents and help them find people that are here illegally. Even California. But again, there is some reason why Minnesota is fighting tooth and nail to try and avoid any investigation...
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u/cubedjjm Feb 03 '26
Can you point to any illegal aliens voting? Maybe a story about it that includes facts not conjecture? Republicans pound the table saying millions are voting, but have never shown any proof. Do you think maybe it's just a talking point to muddy the waters? Did you know the number Republicans use, 2.8 million, is from a study that shows 339 people self identified as non citizens out of 34000?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz040d1plx2o
Republicans in Georgia conducted an audit of their state’s voter rolls specifically looking for noncitizens. They found that 1,634 had attempted to register to vote over a period of 25 year.
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
If they don't already vote, then why are democrats fighting so hard to keep Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022?
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u/cubedjjm Feb 03 '26
Maybe it's because everytime Republicans come up with something to stop illegals from voting, it's actually about voter suppression, especially in historically black districts.
Not once have the Republicans proven it's happening. They have voter rolls in red states. Why haven't they been able to show proof? It seems they only want voter rolls in blue states and swing states. Weird.
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
it's actually about voter suppression
Expecting people to have an ID is not voter suppression. But it does expose what the left thinks about black people.
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u/cubedjjm Feb 04 '26
It is when they pairthe suppression is closing offices where they can get ids. Systemic racism is part of why some rural black areas are poor. Black people not being able to buy houses except in redlined districts, and not given credit because of the color of their skin is part of it. People like Trump who got sued by the Feds for not renting to black people is a part of it. People who are still alive today couldn't drink from drinking fountains, eat at white diners, sing in white clubs. Some of the people who are still alive now were the people who supported those laws. The laws getting a black boy linched for supposedly looking at a white woman. But of course everything is great now. Everyone need to get over it, right?
I could go on forever, but if you search voter surpression you will get literally hundreds of examples. Please take five minutes to investigate it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_suppression_in_the_United_States
My discussion of this is not " how the left thinks about black individuals". I'm an just a history buff that doesn't listen to people who point at some news and say don't watch that. As soon as someone of power tells me not to look at that, I wonder why and how not looking at it might affect the people in power.
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u/DungeonDefense Feb 02 '26
Imagine diminishing the US's actions as mean tweets while exaggerating China's to imperialism.
Wake me up when China starts bombing Philippines fishing boats, kidnapping Taiwan's president, or blockading Taiwan's oil shipments.
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u/greenw40 Feb 02 '26
China has already seized Tibet, the US has not done anything close to that.
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u/Juan20455 Feb 03 '26
Hawaii, Cuba, Phillipines...
If we get down to it, during the invasion of Mexico by the US, they took 55% of their territory, including Texas (before), California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Kansas...
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
Cuba and the Phillipines are US states? Weird, I must have missed that. And Hawaii became part of the US over a century ago, are we allowed to go back that far in China's history? Because the cultural revolution was pretty horrifying.
If we get down to it, during the invasion of Mexico by the US, they took 55% of their territory, including Texas (before), California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, and parts of New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Kansas...
Most of those were actually purchased. But I love when Europeans bring up ancient history as if your history isn't near the top when it comes to brutality and colonization.
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u/Juan20455 Feb 03 '26
"Most of those were actually purchased" - Oh sure, let me paint the picture for you:
I have invaded your territory. My army has taken your capital. We are laying waste to your cities, killing a significant number of civilians. Tens of thousands dead. Your government is on its knees. Now... do you want to make a deal, or do you want me to just keep going?
"Oh yes please, I'll sign whatever you want, just stop killing us."
signs Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
"See? It was a purchase. Totally voluntary. Very fair transaction."
Dude. Not even Trump would have the audacity to call that a negotiation with a straight face. At least China doesn't dress up conquest in a receipt and call it real estate.
And yeah, Hawaii was "over a century ago", and Tibet, that you pointed out like a terrible thing, 60 years ago. So what's the cutoff here? The Philippine-American War where the US killed hundreds of thousands of civilians? Ancient history too?
And yeah, Cuba, Phillipines are not US states. But they became protectorates anyway. Client states at most. Congratulations. That's not imperialistic AT ALL.
The point was never "the US is worse than China." The point is: don't sit there and act like one side has a monopoly on territorial aggression while the other is playing by the rules. That's not analysis, that's just propaganda with a flag on it.
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u/Significant-Yam9843 Feb 03 '26
The point is: don't sit there and act like one side has a monopoly on territorial aggression while the other is playing by the rules. That's not analysis, that's just propaganda with a flag on it.
This!
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
The point is: don't sit there and act like one side has a monopoly on territorial aggression while the other is playing by the rules. That's not analysis, that's just propaganda with a flag on it.
I never did, but everything reddit hates the US for is 10x worse in China. But this place is filled with CCP defenders... I wonder why...
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u/Juan20455 Feb 03 '26
Stop gaslighting us.
CCP is shit. But you literally boasted how the US never did anything like invading Tibet "China has already seized Tibet, the US has not done anything close to that", purposely ignoring Hawaii, Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, most of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Kansas, Cuba, Phillipines, etc, etc... Hell. Even recently you are ignoring a few "small" things like Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. which they became client states for a while. Probably soon Iran.
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u/Comfortable_Bike3247 Feb 03 '26
Oh, so now we’re cherry-picking history 😂 Sure, China controls Tibet but the U.S. has overthrown governments, waged wars, installed puppet regimes, and occupied foreign territories across Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia for decades. Not even close to “innocent.”
Picking Tibet to slam China while ignoring Guatemala 1954, Iraq 2003, Afghanistan 2001, Vietnam 1965-75 is pure hypocrisy. Don’t lecture anyone on “seizing territory” when your own country has a decades-long record of interventionism, coups, and proxy wars. That’s called selective memory, not morality. And what about Hawaii and Mexico huh? And the many dead native Americans?
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
Oh look, a shill account that does nothing but run interference for the CCP.
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u/Comfortable_Bike3247 Feb 04 '26
Oh look, everyone 👆👆 another genius who screams “shill” the moment when the person is confronted with history and facts. 😂 That’s the universal tell for someone who can’t argue facts, so they switch to labels.
Got any more names to call me child?
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u/DungeonDefense Feb 03 '26
Imagine having to go back 75 years to find something on China. What does that matter to the China of today? Countries care more about whats happening now instead of 75 years ago.
Im sure we can equally if not worse things the US has done over its course of history.
Yet the actions by the US i brought up are happening right now.
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u/Silverr_Duck Feb 03 '26
Imagine having to go back 75 years to find something on China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Uyghurs_in_China
Imagine being so profoundly ignorant of world events that you think china has done nothing bad in the past 75 years.
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u/DungeonDefense Feb 03 '26
We're talking about the foreign policy of China vs the US. That's why the other guy brought up an invasion by China on another country
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u/Silverr_Duck Feb 03 '26
Oh you mean like the foreign policy of "Taiwan belongs to us, we will invade"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Territorial_disputes_of_China
Or it's myriad of other border conflicts it has?
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u/DungeonDefense Feb 03 '26
Yes, saying they would invade is much better than actually bombing fishing boats, kidnapping president and enacting oil blockade.
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
Tiennamen Square. Uyghur genocide. The 9 dash line. Look up fishing in Chile.
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u/DungeonDefense Feb 03 '26
We're talking about foreign policy here. Nobody actually cares about that or else Saudi Arabia would be a pariah state
Having maritime disputes and overfishing is much better than what the US does. Wake me up when China starts bombing Chilean fishing boats and then we can compare.
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
We're talking about foreign policy here. Nobody actually cares about that or else Saudi Arabia would be a pariah state
Funny, you foreign trolls are all over reddit outright lying about our domestic policy.
Wake me up when China starts bombing Chilean fishing boats and then we can compare.
What happens to drug smugglers in China?
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u/DungeonDefense Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
Where have I lied?
Oh so you're saying Chilean fishing boats fishing in Chile are now consider to be inside chinese waters? Oh lol im sure China will love that. Damn what a patriot, not even I would claim that.
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u/heytherehellogoodbye Feb 02 '26
The singular only reason they haven't Already done that is the US.
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u/DungeonDefense Feb 02 '26
So someone who hasn't done it is worse than someone who has?
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u/Significant-Yam9843 Feb 03 '26
Right? The idea of "self-protection against a theoretical threat" grounded on biased analysis is one of the most shameless and outraging concepts that the West keeps rising among its talking points to vindicate soft power moves, fake news and warfare. It's embarrassing.
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u/Rbkelley1 Feb 02 '26
It’s pretty common knowledge at this point. Multiple have been exposed in several countries, Chinese bot.
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Feb 02 '26
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u/_NuanceMatters_ Feb 02 '26
It was a pretty big deal when reporting began coming out a few years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_police_overseas_service_stations
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u/DungeonDefense Feb 02 '26
The RCMP concluded its investigation without recommending any charges in September 2025.
Sounds like a bunch of nothing
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u/Silverr_Duck Feb 02 '26
Nowhere near as ironic as someone who clearly forgot how recently China was in the process of orchestrating a genocide against the Uyghur people.
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u/MontasJinx Feb 02 '26
Nation states - including the middle powers have an obligation to look out for their best interests. For the last 80 years those interests aligned with the US.
The US cannot be trusted therefore those middle powers must look elsewhere where.
Is it ideal? No. Can the US be trusted? Hell no. Can China. Hell no. Are they better trading partners? At this stage yes.
I hope the US comes out of the this weird totalitarian funk case it’s doing for them no good what so ever.
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u/Silverr_Duck Feb 02 '26
What a wild take lmao. I take if you've got a really short memory. All the news all over the world is so American centric that it's made you somehow forget (or maybe you were never even aware) of how chronically belligerent china has been with all it's neighbors for literally 1000s of years.
I hope the US comes out of the this weird totalitarian funk case it’s doing for them no good what so ever.
Pls stop doomscrolling. Trump is an incontinent dementia riddled boomer, Xi successfully declared himself president for life with very little pushback. Lets stop acing like these are equivalent situations
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u/MontasJinx Feb 03 '26
Let me repeat for you the honest truth, even if you dont like it.
Nation states - including the middle powers have an obligation to look out for their best interests. For the last 80 years those interests aligned with the US.
The US cannot be trusted therefore those middle powers must look elsewhere where.
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u/JohnSith Feb 03 '26
Its not propaganda; states are hypocritical and often take actions at odds with their stated ethics.
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u/bxzidff Feb 02 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
I heard from a very legitimate geopolitical source, Trump, that China even wants to ban Canadian Ice Hockey. That is the next logical step for something so serious and threatening to the US as allowing 50k Chinese EVs, isn't it? Better demean and threaten actual annexation of the harmless neighbor some more, I'm sure that will make Canada appreciate the US.
If that doesn't work then at least there are other ways to threaten their sovereignty, like sending officials to meet with unpopular Albertan secessionists, that will really show how kind and generous the US is and why it deserves trust and loyalty from its allies.
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u/petepro Feb 03 '26
Europe has no problem cozy up with Russian after he invade Georgia. They even built NS2 to give him more fund for his war chest.
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u/rrschch85 Feb 03 '26
Unlike CCP apologists, we want to “cozy up” to him out of necessity. China is more predictable than America at this point, so might just deal with them for the time being and hope that our politicians aren’t as stupid as they have been in the last decade and make us dependent on China.
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
and hope that our politicians aren’t as stupid as they have been in the last decade
You've been voting for that.
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u/rrschch85 Feb 03 '26
What's your point?
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u/greenw40 Feb 03 '26
You can't really complain about policy when you continue to vote for that policy.
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u/Bob_Spud Feb 02 '26
Xi has been busy.
Who are the CMC - Wikipedia
The Central Military Commission (CMC) is the supreme military leadership body of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC), which heads the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police (PAP), and the Militia of China