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Will Deatherage: Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of The Barefoot Lawyer Reports on China. My name is Will Deatherage, the producer. Joining me as always is Chen Guangcheng.
Chen Guangcheng: Hello everyone, I’m glad to see you here again today.
W: And we have some news coming out of the Chinese Communist Party’s military. Guangcheng, can you explain what’s happening?
G: Xi Jinping imprisoned the general; the name is Zhang Youxia. And because the CCP released this news, a lot of rumors [began to] spread on social media. And one rumor comes from [the] Wall Street Journal. You know, someone wrote the article, and the article said Xi Jinping arrested the military general because Zhang Youxia gave some secret military information to the US.
W: Okay.
G: So that sounds strange. How did the Wall Street Journal know this? And after the article was published, the readers didn’t believe that it [was] true. Another rumor is, Xi Jinping asked military generals to prepare to attack Taiwan in 2027. But the general Zhang Youxia refused to do that, and told Xi Jinping, we don’t have the ability to attack Taiwan.
W: Interesting.
G: And of course, 3 years ago, Xi Jinping arrested a lot of generals. And this is the newest one.
W: And when was the arrest made? Can you just remind—which month was this? In January or…?
G: Yeah, in January. Another rumor said the older officials are unhappy with Xi Jinping. They tried to join hands with the general to take Xi Jinping’s power away.
W: Really?
G: Before they started, Xi Jinping knew about that and arrested the general.
W: So Guangcheng, what do you think this means? Do you think that the general was leaking information to Western governments, or what do you think happened?
G: I think, all the rumors, we cannot believe. I think Xi Jinping arrested the military general just because he is worried they will take the power away from him.
W: Gotcha. So you don’t believe that this is actually about Taiwan?
G: I don’t believe it. They don’t care about taking the land. They just use it as a way to get support from the Chinese people.
W: So Guangcheng, you don’t think that they’ll actually take Taiwan then, or try to take Taiwan, right?
G: I think usually the CCP just says that they will not do that, except if the Chinese people in mainland China stand up to try to change the CCP’s party system, maybe the CCP would use invading Taiwan as a distraction.
W: Gotcha. Okay, but for now—from what you’re saying, Guangcheng—it sounds like they’re not interested in actually invading Taiwan.
G: Yeah. I believe the CCP never cared about the land. They are using it as an excuse to get rid [of] some of their generals.
W: Gotcha.
G: Yeah. The CCP officials, they just care [about] how to protect their power. They never care about people’s lives. They never care about Chinese land. They never care about the environment.
W: Right. Well, we’ll continue following this story, and this trend of how the Communist Party treats its generals. Guangcheng, thank you so much for all the information today.
G: Thank you, Will. Thank you, everyone. See you next time.
The Center for Human Rights has published countless articles and reports on issues facing China, the U.S., and the world. Reports from late 2022 revealed the existence of secret Chinese police stations operating around the world, including in the United States, raising serious concerns about foreign intimidation. A detailed analysis from the Center for Human Rights examines documented cases in Europe and the U.S. And reviews the legal frameworks that could help address this growing challenge. To read this report, go to our Research and Analyses page on humanrights.catholic.edu.