A Thousand Words

An anonymous, online call for the president to quit has sparked a furious manhunt for its author, betraying paranoia at the top of the Communist party It wasn’t a very long letter – the equivalent of about 920 words in English and it appeared only briefly on a Chinese website. But its content was potentially incendiary. It called for president 习近平 (Xí Jìnpíng) to resign. [Read more].

• Stuart Leavenworth, “Not fit to lead”: letter attacking Xí Jìnpíng sparks witch hunt in Běijīng, The Guardian, April 1, 2016

For the full text of the letter, both in Chinese and English languages, see https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2016/03/open-letter-devoted-party-members-urge-xis-resignation/ (English) as well as  http://chinadigitaltimes.net/chinese/2016/03/忠诚党员促习近平辞职的公开信（全文）/ (Chinese).

“Comrade Xí Jìnpíng, we feel that you do not possess the capabilities to lead the party and the nation into the future, and we believe that you are no longer suitable for the post of general secretary”, the letter stated. “For the party cause, for the long-term peace and stability of the country, and for your own personal safety and that of your family, we ask you to resign from all positions ...”. [Read more].