20230919 Chi Haotian,  Zeng Qinghong and Xi

Retired Gen. Chi Haotian, left, let Zeng Qinghong speak for Chinese Communist Party elders at a conclave in August, when President Xi Jinping had a lot to listen to. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images and Yusuke Hinata)

Analysis: Military elder put silent pressure on Xi at Beidaihe

Officer purges and simmering discontent drove retired general to conclave

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.

A 94-year-old military heavyweight was sitting silently as President Xi Jinping and other top decision-makers of the Chinese Communist Party carefully listened to another retired party elder remark on the country's situation at a meeting at the seaside resort of Beidaihe this summer.

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