It can be lonely at the top. And that’s just how China’s leader likes it

Last week Beijing’s deputy mayor was meeting with Walmart CEO John Furner and encouraging American companies to invest in the Chinese capital. Now he has vanished from public life, the latest to be swept up in an anti-corruption campaign that has ensnared a galaxy of China’s talent: a former top judge, a spy chief, dozens of military generals – and even officials tasked with rooting out graft in the People’s Republic.

In hushed tones across China party officials are wondering who is next, as the purge continues to reach into the highest echelons of the ruling Communist Party and has even toppled those seen as being close to leader Xi Jinping.

The only person who doesn’t need to worry about his future is Xi himself.

Unlike US President Donald Trump , who is currently battling to save his party’s fortunes at the midterm elections and is constitutionally barred from serving more than two terms, Xi’s rule over the aspiring superpower and world’s second-biggest economy has never looked more secure.

He will take that confidence into a high-level closed-door meeting of more than 200 of the party elite in Beijing this week that is all set to further boost his authority – and his signature anti-corruption drive. Attendance at this meeting will be at a historic low – because of the anti-corruption measure.

The meeting is being particularly closely watched because it is held just a year before an even more important gathering of Communist Party leadership next fall where Xi is expected to engineer for himself an unprecedented fourth term.

The years-long anti-corruption campaign has ensured there are few, if any, figures or factions who could stand against him.

Since Xi, 73, came to power over 14 years ago millions of rank-and-file officials have been purged. In 2022, Xi called to “turn the blade inward” to investigate those tasked to enforce discipline themselves.

But he’s still not satisfied.

Earlier this year he told party cadres that the corruption problem “remains grave” and warned that there were still many “two-faced people” in the party. The war against graft, he promised, would be a “never-ending struggle.”

ue Yuewei/Xinhua/Getty Images

In recent months, the speed and scale of the anti-corruption drive have reached levels unseen in decades.

According to official data from the party’s Central Commission of Discipline Inspection (CCDI), between 2012 and 2022, over 500 ministerial-level officials have been probed, later convicted, removed from their posts, and expelled from the party for corruption.

In just the past three years, more than 410 officials have been purged.

Some of those purges have reached places that were once considered untouchable.

The party’s top military decision-making body, the usually seven-member Central Military Commission is now down to only two members – one of those being Xi himself . The 24-member politburo - the party’s top echelon - is down to only 21 members.

Over the past three weeks, ahead of the Beijing meeting, the CCDI has been sending out near daily updates of arrests, new probes and expulsions from the party.

The news that Huang Qifan was being probed sent shockwaves through political circles.

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Huang was a longtime mayor of the megacity of Chongqing, known as a consummate political survivor who had served under six different secretaries of the Communist Party – and seen two of them go to jail, including a former rival of Xi.

In retirement, Huang was prolific at conferences and on TV, giving his takes on the Chinese economy.

Since his downfall, those who knew Huang have rushed to scrub all mention of their former well-connected friend and colleague from their social media accounts – a common practice in China.

For Beijing deputy mayor Xia Linmao, the purge came suddenly. Only days before, state TV showed him at a meeting with Walmart’s Furner and a slew of other US executives, nodding and taking his notes as his boss invited the group to do more business in Beijing.

Others simply vanished from public view, with news of their investigation not appearing for months, like Ma Xingrui, an aerospace engineer turned senior party official who once ran the vast western region of Xinjiang. The authorities announced an investigation into him in April – after he had not been seen in public for five months.

Being officially investigated for corruption almost always spells the end of a political career in China, with guilty officials kept from the public eye even after they have served their sentences.

And in recent months, authorities have shown they are willing to use capital punishment to enforce the party line, even for those who were once trusted aides of Xi.

In May, two former defense ministers, Wei Fenghe and Li Shangfu were given suspended death sentences, with a two-year reprieve , after being convicted of bribery.

Years of purging has left a generation of younger officials with fewer seniors left who can provide patronage, protection and career advancement, and the situation where the most powerful person in China does not have an apparent heir , in a break from his predecessors.

And for some, that’s just fine.

Deng Yuwen, a former deputy editor of the Study Times, the official publication of the party’s top training institute, told CNN that “now younger people all listen to Xi, isn’t this better? At this point, I don’t think Xi needs to worry about whether someone is already his trusted aides. “

“Whoever he promotes will become his loyalist,” said Deng. “And he has enough time to make someone his trusted loyalists.”

上周，北京市副市长还在会见沃尔玛首席执行官约翰·弗纳，鼓励美国公司投资中国首都。如今，他已从公众视野中消失，成为最新一位卷入反腐运动的人物。这场运动已波及中国众多人才：一位前高级法官、一位情报局长、数十位将军，甚至包括一些负责在中华人民共和国根除腐败的官员。

在中国各地，党内官员们都在低声议论，想知道下一个会是谁，因为清洗运动仍在继续，已经波及到执政的共产党最高层，甚至连那些被视为与领导人习近平关系密切的人也被撤换了。

唯一一个无需为自己的未来担忧的人，只有习近平本人。

与美国总统唐纳德·特朗普不同，后者目前正努力在中期选举中挽救其所在政党的命运，并且根据宪法规定，他最多只能连任两届；习近平对这个有抱负的超级大国和世界第二大经济体的统治从未像现在这样稳固。

本周，他将带着这份自信在北京参加一场由200多名党内精英参加的高级别闭门会议，此次会议旨在进一步巩固他的权威，并推进他标志性的反腐运动。由于反腐措施，此次会议的出席人数将创历史新低。

此次会议备受关注，因为它距离明年秋季举行的更为重要的中共领导人会议仅一年之遥，届时习近平预计将为自己谋求史无前例的第四个任期。

长达数年的反腐败运动确保了几乎没有任何人物或派系能够与他抗衡。

自73岁的习近平14年前上台以来，数百万基层官员遭到清洗。2022年，习近平呼吁“刀刃向内”，调查那些负责执行纪律的人员。

但他仍然不满意。

今年早些时候，他告诉党内干部，腐败问题“依然严峻”，并警告说党内仍然有很多“两面派”。他承诺，反腐败斗争将是一场“永无止境的斗争”。

ue Yuewei/新华社/盖蒂图片社

近几个月来，反腐败行动的速度和规模达到了几十年来前所未有的水平。

根据党的中央纪律检查委员会（CCDI）的官方数据，2012年至2022年间，500多名部级官员因贪污被调查，后被定罪、免职并开除党籍。

仅在过去三年里，就有超过 410 名官员被清洗。

有些清洗行动甚至波及到了以前被认为是禁区的地方。

中共最高军事决策机构——通常由七名成员组成的中央军委，如今只剩下两名成员，其中一人正是习近平本人。而由24名成员组成的政治局——中共最高领导层——也只剩下21名成员。

在北京会议召开前的过去三周里，中央调查局几乎每天都会发布逮捕、新调查和开除党籍等最新消息。

黄其帆被调查的消息震惊了政界。

龙伟/Feature China/Getty Images

黄是重庆市的长期市长，以其在政坛的顽强生存能力而闻名，他曾先后在六位不同的中共书记手下任职，并亲眼目睹其中两位入狱，其中包括习近平的一位前竞争对手。

退休后，黄在各种会议上和电视节目中频频露面，发表他对中国经济的看法。

自黄先生下台以来，认识他的人纷纷从社交媒体账户中删除了所有关于这位前人脉广泛的朋友和同事的信息——这在中国是一种常见的做法。

对北京市副市长夏林茂来说，这次清洗来得猝不及防。就在几天前，中央电视台还播放着他与沃尔玛首席执行官弗纳及其他一众美国高管会面的画面，当时他的老板邀请他们来北京拓展业务，他一边点头一边做笔记。

还有一些人则彻底从公众视野中消失，几个月都没有关于他们接受调查的消息传出，比如马兴瑞，这位从航空航天工程师晋升为高级官员，曾任新疆西部地区总督的官员。在他五个月没有公开露面之后，当局于四月份宣布对他展开调查。

在中国，被正式调查腐败几乎总是意味着政治生涯的终结，即使服刑期满，有罪官员也会被从公众视野中抹去。

近几个月来，当局已经表明，他们愿意使用死刑来强制执行党的路线，即使是对那些曾经是习近平信任的助手也不例外。

5月，两名前国防部长魏凤和和李尚福因受贿罪被判处死刑，缓期执行两年。

多年的清洗导致年轻一代官员中，能够提供庇护、保护和职业晋升的资深官员越来越少，而中国最有权势的人也没有明显的继承人，这与他的前任们的情况截然不同。

对某些人来说，这样就挺好。

曾任中共中央最高培训机构官方刊物《学习时报》副主编的邓宇文告诉CNN：“现在年轻人都听习近平的，这不是更好吗？到了这个地步，我认为习近平不需要担心谁已经是他的亲信了。”

邓说：“他提拔的人都会成为他的忠实拥护者。而且他有足够的时间培养出值得信赖的忠实拥护者。”