China's ruling party turning on Xi? US expert says elders and insiders questioning his third term
The central issue is Xi's extension into a third term after eliminating the two-term limit set during the Deng era
- Jul 21, 2025,
- Updated Jul 21, 2025 6:46 PM IST
Xi Jinping’s grip on power may be facing quiet resistance within China's political establishment, according to Robert Lee Suettinger, a former US intelligence official and expert on Chinese politics. Speaking to former Australian Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, Suettinger said Xi's rollback of economic reforms and concentration of power have generated dissatisfaction - both within elite circles and on the streets.
"Their economy is in a bit of a mess actually right now," Suettinger said. "And they're trying to figure out, because Xi Jinping rolled back all of the reforms that Hu Yaobang stood for and Deng [Xiaoping] stood for in many cases. I mean, even Deng is really no longer involved in China. It's not looked on very fondly by people these days."
According to Suettinger, Xi has moved aggressively to eliminate all potential sources of competition. He pointed out that during the period of reform and opening up, businesspeople operated with relative autonomy under state tolerance, even though private property rights were limited. "You can't have a free enterprise system when you can’t own the land that your factory's on," he noted.
That changed under Jiang Zemin, who launched what Suettinger called "oddly, the Three Represents" - a policy that allowed successful businessmen to join the Communist Party. "Even though they might not know the first thing about Marxism, Leninism, but they can join the party and contribute some of their money to the party's coffers. Some of them became very wealthy and quite influential," he said.
But Xi, Suettinger argued, found this growing voice of the private sector threatening. "So people like Jack Ma and others who began to be spokesman for the private sector in China began to sort of act as if their voices should be heard and economic decisions should be made with their recommendations in mind. Xi wasn't having any of that."
He went on to claim that "everything that Xi touched has not been very successful," citing economic policy, the real estate market, local taxation, and COVID-19 response as examples. According to Suettinger, even within the Communist Party, the mood is shifting. "There are rumors right now that he is under question and that elders have come back in the last couple of years and have attacked his policies and his overall approach—including the anti-corruption campaign—as being counterproductive and an embarrassment."
Public discontent, he said, is palpable even in casual conversations. "I'm told by academics who have come back with stories that even amongst the taxi drivers in Beijing they have not got a good word to say about Xi Jinping. They sort of cuss him up one side and down the other but they don't go public with it."
The central issue, Suettinger said, is Xi's extension into a third term after eliminating the two-term limit set during the Deng era. "The government has had to admit that their growth rates have sunk, their local debts have become unsustainable. So there's a lot of people who are looking at Xi and saying why does this guy get to be general secretary for life?"
According to him, many loyal Party members are now questioning Xi's record: "If he was successful that would be one thing. But why have a third term or a fourth term of a guy who was a demonstrable failure?"
Whether this quiet resistance will translate into any real change remains uncertain, Suettinger said. "Whether or not they are making any progress is an open question at this point."
Xi Jinping’s grip on power may be facing quiet resistance within China's political establishment, according to Robert Lee Suettinger, a former US intelligence official and expert on Chinese politics. Speaking to former Australian Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, Suettinger said Xi's rollback of economic reforms and concentration of power have generated dissatisfaction - both within elite circles and on the streets.
"Their economy is in a bit of a mess actually right now," Suettinger said. "And they're trying to figure out, because Xi Jinping rolled back all of the reforms that Hu Yaobang stood for and Deng [Xiaoping] stood for in many cases. I mean, even Deng is really no longer involved in China. It's not looked on very fondly by people these days."
According to Suettinger, Xi has moved aggressively to eliminate all potential sources of competition. He pointed out that during the period of reform and opening up, businesspeople operated with relative autonomy under state tolerance, even though private property rights were limited. "You can't have a free enterprise system when you can’t own the land that your factory's on," he noted.
That changed under Jiang Zemin, who launched what Suettinger called "oddly, the Three Represents" - a policy that allowed successful businessmen to join the Communist Party. "Even though they might not know the first thing about Marxism, Leninism, but they can join the party and contribute some of their money to the party's coffers. Some of them became very wealthy and quite influential," he said.
But Xi, Suettinger argued, found this growing voice of the private sector threatening. "So people like Jack Ma and others who began to be spokesman for the private sector in China began to sort of act as if their voices should be heard and economic decisions should be made with their recommendations in mind. Xi wasn't having any of that."
He went on to claim that "everything that Xi touched has not been very successful," citing economic policy, the real estate market, local taxation, and COVID-19 response as examples. According to Suettinger, even within the Communist Party, the mood is shifting. "There are rumors right now that he is under question and that elders have come back in the last couple of years and have attacked his policies and his overall approach—including the anti-corruption campaign—as being counterproductive and an embarrassment."
Public discontent, he said, is palpable even in casual conversations. "I'm told by academics who have come back with stories that even amongst the taxi drivers in Beijing they have not got a good word to say about Xi Jinping. They sort of cuss him up one side and down the other but they don't go public with it."
The central issue, Suettinger said, is Xi's extension into a third term after eliminating the two-term limit set during the Deng era. "The government has had to admit that their growth rates have sunk, their local debts have become unsustainable. So there's a lot of people who are looking at Xi and saying why does this guy get to be general secretary for life?"
According to him, many loyal Party members are now questioning Xi's record: "If he was successful that would be one thing. But why have a third term or a fourth term of a guy who was a demonstrable failure?"
Whether this quiet resistance will translate into any real change remains uncertain, Suettinger said. "Whether or not they are making any progress is an open question at this point."