The NYT Revealed Who Has Become Xi Jinping's "Eyes And Ears" In China
- 5.07.2026, 17:56
China's leader tasked him with selecting a new generation of party cadres and monitoring their ideological loyalty.
Ahead of his likely fourth term, Chinese President Xi Jinping is increasingly relying on his closest ally, the Secretary of the Secretariat of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Cai Qi, who has been tasked with selecting a new generation of party cadres and monitoring their ideological loyalty. This is reported by The New York Times with reference to experts.
Recently, Cai, who holds several key posts, took the helm of the Central Party School, where the country’s future leaders are trained. According to Julian Gewirtz, former senior director for China at the U.S. National Security Council under the Biden administration, “the ability to speak on behalf of Xi Jinping is the rarest and most valuable resource in Chinese elite politics, and it is Cai Qi who possesses that right.” He also noted that Cai “is likely among a very small circle of people who can prepare dossiers on officials for Xi.”
The NYT noted that Cai has been part of Xi’s inner circle since their days working together in China’s eastern provinces. However, he was not always considered a hard-line bureaucrat. In the 2000s, Cai ran a popular account on the Chinese social media platform Weibo and wrote: “Openness is a good thing. It is not enough for any political party to rely solely on self-discipline.”
However, the newspaper clarified that after being transferred to a post in Beijing, he became one of the main implementers of Xi’s policies. In 2017, as mayor of Beijing, Cai oversaw the mass eviction of migrant workers and urged officials to take a hard line: “At the local level, we must act with real swords and real guns, stain our blades with blood, and have the courage to engage in direct confrontation,” he said.
According to experts, ahead of the next Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress, it is Cai who will play a key role in selecting the new generation of leaders. Taiwanese political scientist Kou Jianwen notes: “When a political leader like Xi Jinping enters the later stages of his rule, his sense of insecurity and distrust usually intensifies. At the same time, he is not yet as familiar with the new generation of subordinates, so establishing trusting relationships with them becomes much more difficult.”
Deng Yuwen, a former deputy editor-in-chief of the Chinese party newspaper *Study Times* who has criticized Chinese policy, believes that “given everything that has happened, Xi Jinping will be even more cautious in selecting personnel ahead of the 21st Party Congress.” According to him, “Xi wants to be absolutely certain that the views of future party and state leaders will fully align with his own.” The 21st CPC Congress is scheduled for 2027.
According to Dan Yuwen, even if Cai Qi steps down from most of his current posts next year, he may retain leadership of the Central Party School and remain Xi Jinping’s chief personnel “filter” Xi Jinping—his “eyes and ears.”
A possible reshuffling of China’s bureaucracy is taking place against the backdrop of purges within the PRC’s party and military leadership. For example, in late January 2026, an investigation was launched into Zhang Yuxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China, as well as Liu Zhengli, Chief of the Joint Staff of the Central Military Commission, were placed under investigation on suspicion of “serious violations of discipline and the law.” Later, The Wall Street Journal, citing sources, reported that Zhang Yuxia is also suspected of passing key technical data on Chinese nuclear weapons to the United States.