Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive faces test at Beidaihe party meeting
Analysts say Beidaihe summit of nation's elite will be dominated by president's war on graft, and may well determine if campaign succeeds
This week's gathering of the Communist Party elite in Beidaihe will test President Xi Jinping's authority to hold the party together as senior cadres and interest groups feel the heat from his sweeping anti-corruption campaign, analysts say.
The meeting of party elders and the leadership at the seaside resort for the traditional low-key gathering comes after the president reportedly acknowledged that his two-year-old drive against graft faced challenges.
"The two armies of corruption and anti-corruption are in opposition and are at a stalemate," Xi said, according to state media reports earlier this week.
The reports did not elaborate, but analysts and insiders suggested the widening campaign had damaged interest groups with links to some of the party elite, and Xi had clearly realised that it was make-or-break time in the fight against them.
Renmin University political science professor Zhang Ming said the situation was complicated, and different parties might hit back in Beidaihe.
Zhang said the anti-graft campaign would dominate the informal summit, as leaders were expected to discuss how far the crusade would go, or if any "bigger tigers" would be caught.
"I think the announcement [last week of the formal investigation into former security chief] Zhou Yongkang suggested that Xi did not want to discuss the case at the meeting, but move forward on other possible major corruption cases and issues," he said. "At the centre is what kind of rule of law the leaders want."
