Cracks appear in 'invincible' Xi Jinping's authority over China | Xi Jinping | The Guardian

Cracks appear in 'invincible' Xi Jinping's authority over China | Xi Jinping | The Guardian: Xi%u2019s%20name%20seemed%20to%20have%20disappeared%20for%20a%20while%20from%20the%20cover%20of%20the%20People%u2019s%20Daily%2C%20replaced%20with%20articles%20about%20his%20deputy%2C%20Li%20Keqiang%2C%20and%20large%20portraits%20of%20him%20were%20said%20to%20have%20been%20taken%20down%20after%20a%20young%20woman%20filmed%20herself%20throwing%20ink%20at%20his%20image.%0A%0ANo.%201%20will%20rest%20while%20Ocean%20takes%20over%20the%20military%0ACryptic%20slogan%20on%20internet%0AOn%2013%20July%2C%20online%20reports%20claimed%20there%20was%20gunfire%20in%20central%20Beijing%20as%20a%20coup%20unfolded.%20A%20cryptic%20slogan%20emerged%20online%3A%20%u201CNo.%201%20will%20rest%20while%20Ocean%20takes%20over%20the%20military%2C%u201D%20a%20reference%20to%20a%20rival%20politician%20taking%20power.%0A%0AFor%20now%2C%20Xi%20remains%20in%20full%20control%20of%20the%20government%20and%20party%2C%20and%20mentions%20of%20him%20in%20state-run%20media%20are%20as%20frequent%20as%20ever%2C%20but%20the%20hearsay%20is%20a%20sign%20all%20is%20not%20right%20with%20China%u2019s%20most%20powerful%20leader%20in%20decades.%0A%0A%u201CSuch%20rumours%20may%20well%20lack%20credibility%2C%20but%20they%20do%20offer%20some%20indication%20that%20the%20disharmony%20within%20China%u2019s%20party%20elite%20is%20increasing%20%2C%u201D%20the%20Hong%20Kong%20political%20analyst%20Lee%20Yee%20wrote%20in%20in%20the%20online%20journal%20China%20Heritage.%0A%0AThis%20week%2C%20an%20essay%20by%20a%20law%20professor%20at%20Tsinghua%20University%2C%20one%20of%20the%20country%u2019s%20top%20schools%2C%20made%20the%20rounds%20on%20Chinese%20social%20media.%20The%20essay%20-%20Our%20dread%20now%20and%20our%20hopes%20-%20by%20Xu%20Zhangrun%20offered%20one%20of%20the%20most%20direct%20criticisms%20of%20the%20Chinese%20government%20under%20Xi%u2019s%20direction.%0A%0AReferring%20to%20Xi%20only%20as%20%u201Cthat%20official%u201D%2C%20Xu%20accused%20him%20of%20reversing%20years%20of%20reforms%2C%20effectively%20returning%20China%20to%20an%20era%20of%20totalitarian%20politics%20and%20a%20style%20of%20dictatorship%20last%20seen%20under%20Mao%20Zedong.%0A%0AAdvertisement%0A%0A%u201CAfter%2040%20years%20of%20reform%2C%20overnight%20we%u2019re%20back%20to%20the%20ancien%20r%E9gime%2C%u201D%20he%20wrote%2C%20calling%20for%20the%20return%20of%20term%20limits%2C%20abolished%20under%20Xi%20earlier%20this%20year%2C%20the%20rehabilitation%20of%20those%20punished%20for%20the%204%20June%20pro-democracy%20protests%20crushed%20by%20the%20government%20and%20an%20end%20to%20the%20cult%20of%20personality%20surrounding%20Xi.%0A%0A%u201CThe%20party%20is%20going%20to%20great%20lengths%20to%20create%20a%20new%20idol%2C%20and%20in%20the%20process%20it%20is%20offering%20up%20to%20the%20world%20an%20image%20of%20China%20as%20modern%20totalitarianism%2C%u201D%20he%20wrote.%0A%0AXu%20is%20one%20among%20several%20intellectuals%20voicing%20dissent.%20Sun%20Wenguang%2C%20a%20retired%20professor%20at%20Shandong%20University%20published%20an%20essay%20in%20July%20urging%20Xi%20to%20stop%20spending%20money%20abroad%20on%20projects%20such%20as%20the%20Belt%20and%20Road%20initiative%2C%20and%20spend%20it%20at%20home%20instead.%20He%20was%20later%20detained%20by%20Chinese%20security%20while%20giving%20an%20interview%20to%20Voice%20of%20America.%0A%0A%u201CFor%20the%20first%20time%20since%20Xi%20Jinping%20gained%20power%20in%202012%2C%20he%20is%20facing%20a%20pushback%20from%20within%20the%20party%2C%20from%20liberal%20intellectuals%20and%20so%20forth%2C%u201D%20said%20Willy%20Lam%2C%20a%20senior%20fellow%20at%20the%20Jamestown%20Foundation%20and%20adjunct%20professor%20at%20the%20Center%20for%20China%20Studies%20at%20the%20Chinese%20University%20of%20Hong%20Kong.