DavidWillis

🚨Breaking: A Stunning Twist in the Zhang Youxia Case? Today, the Chinese Communist Party broke with convention by convening an emergency session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC). Normally, the committee meets once every two months and, by routine, the next session should have been held in late February. Outside observers widely believe this emergency meeting was called by Xi Jinping to formalize the handling of Zhang Youxia, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and Liu Zhenli, Chief of the CMC Joint Staff Department, specifically, to strip them of their NPC delegate status. Under the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Deputies to the National People’s Congress and to the Local People’s Congresses at Various Levels, NPC deputies, during their term of office, may not be arrested, placed under criminal detention, or prosecuted without permission. The authority to grant such permission rests with the Presidium of the National People’s Congress. Therefore, to formally arrest or prosecute Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, their NPC delegate status would first have to be revoked. However, the official meeting announcement shows that the individuals whose qualifications were revoked were three other people (see my previous post), not Zhang Youxia or Liu Zhenli. This means that all actions taken against Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli to date, including restrictions on their personal freedom, are illegal and lack any legal basis. As of now, it has been ten days since the CCP’s Ministry of National Defense announced that cases had been filed against Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli. Yet within the military, there has been no expression of support for this decision in the name of the “Party Central Committee.” Instead, there has been an eerie silence. The detention of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli followed neither normal Party procedures nor any discussion within the Central Military Commission, and therefore also lacks procedural legitimacy. China observers believe that today’s emergency NPC Standing Committee meeting was, to a great extent, convened by Xi Jinping precisely to remove Zhang Youxia’s and Liu Zhenli’s NPC delegate status. Yet the outcome of the meeting failed to deliver what he appeared to be seeking. This may indicate that Xi Jinping’s agenda has encountered soft resistance. So, does this amount to a major reversal in the Zhang Youxia–Liu Zhenli case?