Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently went to Xinjiang for an inspection, eight years after his last visit to this far-west China region. In addition to civilian officials, the entourage included the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission. This unusual occurrence could be a sign that Xi wants to warn and intimidate his political opponents.
China Central TV (CCTV) covered Xi’s Xinjiang inspection, which began on July 12 and ended on July 15, in a 34-minute propaganda piece in its prime-time news broadcast.
At the end of 2021, Xi replaced Xinjiang’s communist party chief with one of his cronies, Ma Xingrui, after the faction of his opponent, Jiang Zemin, had controlled the autonomous region for nearly three decades….