Miao Hua, a high-ranking military general, might be the first loyal disciple of Xi Jinping to be ensnared by the president's long-running anti-corruption campaign. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters, Kyodo, and Yusuke Hinata)

Analysis: Did Xi Jinping act like ancient military strategist Zhuge Liang?

Zhuge abandoned trusted general Ma Su to strictly maintain military discipline

KATSUJI NAKAZAWA, Nikkei senior staff writer

December 5, 2024 04:00 JST

Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.

It looks like Chinese President Xi Jinping did exactly what Zhuge Liang, a Chinese statesman and military strategist, did to his trusted general Ma Su almost two millennia ago.