This is CBSI in the world. I'm John Baxter. The People's Republic of China, the rising power,

the once and future. Well, we've got some headlines that are a puzzle, if that's all accurate.

Military delegates lose sway at China's signature political gathering. This is the National People's Congress

that is the so-called rubber stamp organization that approves all of the decisions made by the

Chinese Communist Party. But there are missing faces. And the F.T. is good enough to document

those cases, although missing faces, but does not

analyze what it means that they're not there. The F.T. says very politely, the disciplined violations

are, quote, taking a heavier toll on the armed forces than other parts of society. What a surprise, given that the

military has the sharp end of the stick. I particularly was attracted by the list that they put

right in the final paragraph, and I'm going to read it out loud without mangling the Chinese

names and ask Gregory to interpret what I'm seeing.

Observers are watching out for three more military delegates who have recently disappeared from

public view. A man by the name of Lee, a man by the name of Wang. Who is Lee? The commander of the

PLA. Who is Wang? He's the people's armed police. In addition,

a man named Yuan, the PLA Navy's political commissar. Add this to the missing defense

minister and missing admirals from the South China Sea. Gregory, these are major significant command posts. These men were all

chosen by Xi over these last years. They all swore allegiance to Xi. What are we seeing?

Well, what we're seeing is the fact that these few people that we that you mentioned or the FT mentioned were just

the tip of the iceberg in terms of the senior military personnel who she originally

selected as his loyal commanders who have been dismissed by she himself in subsequent months or years.

So the bottom line is that she cannot rely on the People's Liberation Army or the People's Armed

Police, which is absolutely vital for internal security, to back him in any counter-coup

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