Chinese Political History II: Chapter 6, Exercise 2 — Possible Solution
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TASK
Using only the cases and facts in this chapter, build the strongest case
for each reading of the anti-corruption campaign, then say what evidence
would separate them.

GENUINE ANTI-GRAFT
- It went after "tigers and flies," so it reached grassroots civil servants
  and not only elites.
- It was large in scale (a reported 2.3 million officials, though the
  meaning of that figure is uncertain).
- It was made permanent: the National Supervisory Commission was created in
  2018 as the highest supervisory body.

POLITICAL TOOL
- Targets included Zhou Yongkang (a former Standing Committee member), Xu
  Caihou and Guo Boxiong (former CMC vice chairmen) and Sun Zhengcai (a
  sitting Politburo member in 2017), so it removed people with independent
  standing in the party and army.
- The consolidation that followed (the 2016 core status, the 2017-2018
  doctrine) suggests it strengthened one leader.

WHAT WOULD SEPARATE THEM
- Whether targets were chosen by rank and rivalry or by evidence of
  wrongdoing, which needs case files that were not available here.
- Whether comparable allies of the leadership were spared, which needs
  a full list of cases.
- The two are not exclusive; both could be true.