The left-wing opposition to Xi Jinping is divided on whether to cooperate with “liberal” opponents—an exclusive investigation into a secretive world.
by Xiao Ziqi
Article 2 of 3. Read article 1.
When the controversy about the “Xuexi China” planned article described in the first article of this series erupted, it was not the first time the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group had been embroiled in a similar public controversy. Ever since August 24, 2022—the fourth anniversary of the Jasic workers’ movement—when the administrator of a Telegram group controlled by the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group suddenly and publicly claimed that the Jasic workers’ movement and Marxist student societies at Chinese universities purged by the CCP, including Peking University’s Marxist Society, were all led by the “Maoist Communist Party of China,” there have been numerous questions and discussions regarding the activities of this Maoist organization in recent years.
Many believe the management style and propaganda stance of the Telegram groups run by the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group have changed significantly, deviating from the political line of the Jasic workers’ movement in its early days. These changes primarily include publicly proclaiming that “white-collar workers and students are all members of the petty bourgeoisie” and disparaging the rights-defense and democratic movements initiated by these groups; abandoning tolerance toward liberals and other Maoists with differing views within the group and purging those with dissenting opinions; and publicly labeling all Maoists other than the Maoist Communist Party of China and its supporters as “petty-bourgeois democrats” and excluding them.
External interpretations of the causes of these changes differ. Broadly speaking, three main viewpoints emerge: “cyberpolice infiltration,” “management reshuffling,” and “a joint decision by former Jasic workers and the remnants of the Solidarity Group to effect change.” IpkMedia published two articles in 2023 discussing these issues, on August 25 (dated August 22) and September 21.
The response published on the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group website took an extremely hardline stance, not only insisting that the political line of the Maoist
Communist Party of China has remained consistent and unchanged, but going so far as to speculate—based solely on the fact that Jin Zhong, the editor-in-chief of “Open Magazine” (which had reported that “the Maoist Communist Party of China supported Bo Xilai as General Secretary”), is a member of Ipk Media’s advisory board—that both articles were published at Jin Zhong’s instigation to attack the Maoist Communist Party of China.
Following further investigation and verification by “Bitter Winter,” it has been confirmed that the request for comment from “Xuexi China”—published on the official website of the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group—was indeed sent via email by “GFWfrog,” the head of “Xuexi China,” to the public email address of the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group. Furthermore, the article’s account of the historical origins of the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group and the Maoist organizations behind it is essentially accurate.
The article claims that the Maoist Communist Party of China and the Peking University Marxist Society (北京大学马克思主义学会) maintain only a cooperative relationship, not a leadership-subordinate relationship. It adds that the WeChat public account “Worker No. 51” (工号51), which advocates for labor rights and supports Chen Guojiang, the leader of the Food Delivery Riders’ Union, within China’s Great Firewall, was founded by the Maoist organization behind the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group. The article also accurately reports that the online publication “The Leninist Path” (列宁道路) was founded by overseas remnants of the Peking University Marxist Society who advocate continuing United Front work with the petty bourgeoisie to promote a democratic revolution.
Contrary to the speculations of many who, disappointed by the subsequent actions of the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group, surmised that the relevant groups might have come under the control of political fraudsters claiming to represent the “Maoist Communist Party of China” or even by CCP state security personnel, the Maoist Communist Party of China—founded in 2008—did indeed, just like the Peking University Marxist Society (founded in 2000), participate deeply in the Jasic workers’ movement that same year.
However, after Chinese Communist authorities suppressed this Maoist party in 2009 for holding public offline meetings, it has remained active only in secret. It has largely refrained from participating in subsequent public debates within Maoist circles about political lines, making it difficult for outsiders to ascertain its core views. Even most members of the Jasic Workers’ Solidarity Group and the various Maoist student societies at universities involved in supporting the labor movement were unaware of the party’s existence at the time. Some of them even told “Bitter Winter” that it was only when they were compelled by CCP authorities to watch “confession videos” that they first heard that a very small number of people within their own organizations had joined the Maoist Communist Party of China.
Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.
