A recent article in a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) magazine quoted the party leader expressing dissatisfaction with officials’ passivity and inactivity. Analysts see this as a sign of “lying flat,” or passive resistance to Xi Jinping’s growing centralized power within the party.
Lying flat is an Internet buzzword that initially referred to a passive and inactive attitude that Chinese youth use to alleviate pressures from fierce competition and challenging life. Now, lying flat is widely regarded as a moderate boycott of insurmountable rivals while protecting oneself and minimizing losses.
In the latest issue of party media on March 16, Qiushi published an article by the CCP leader claiming that the “strict party governance” does not turn the CCP into “a pool of stagnant water,” implicitly criticizing party members for not actively carrying out his decisions.
Xi also stressed the need to solve the party’s “unique difficulties” by some measures like stimulating “the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity” of party members and cadres with “strict control and generous love” and “incentives and constraints.”
Wang He, a U.S.-based current affairs commentator, pointed out that “the so-called ‘unique difficulties’ mentioned by Xi is essentially a problem of the legitimacy of the CCP’s rule. This problem has now been highlighted within the party, and it has evolved into a situation in which the officials resist Xi’s monopoly of power by lying down.
Mr. Wang continued, “Although Xi Jinping has accomplished his centralization of power by relying on the ‘anti-corruption’ campaign against his political opponents, he has offended almost all of the CCP’s interest groups, from the top to the bottom of the hierarchy.”
“Therefore, with more [CCP officials] protesting against him [Xi] internally and adopting a passive stance in government work, Xi becomes a loner.”
Another reason that CCP officials prefer to lie flat, according to Mr. Wang, is they fear being arrested as targets of Xi’s anti-corruption campaign if they openly say no to the central government.
Xi, Who Is Hard to Satisfy
During the two sessions that closed in mid-March, the Communist Party chief accelerated his highly centralized helm. First, he passed a revised bill establishing that the State Council is subordinate to the Party, and second, he canceled the premier’s routine post-session press conference. Both practices are said to have further downgraded the State Council and expanded the personal power of Party leaders.
It happened at the NPC meeting on March 9. In a rare move, Xi and other senior figures had a three-minute private interaction on the podium. Xi picked up the report and faced Zhao Leji, chairman of the NPC, with a solemn expression. He pointed to the report and occasionally tapped on the table while Mr. Zhao continued to listen, maintaining a humble gesture.
Thousands of attendees, including journalists from overseas media, watched the episode, and all the officials looked tense, wondering what had gone wrong.
Multiple media cited a post from social media platform X saying that the trigger for the tense atmosphere at the rubber-stamped legislative conference was a report by Ying Yong, the prosecutor general of the Supreme Prosecutor’s Office. It stated that in 2023, more than 2.4 million people were arrested or prosecuted on national security grounds. This was supposed to be a “pleasing report” for Xi, but it accidentally triggered his anger. The number of people detained in 2023 exceeds the total number of arrests in the decade of the Cultural Revolution in former leader Mao Zedong’s era, 2.3 million people
Those millions of arrests are made up of dissidents, petitioners, and also officials purged by the current government.
Zhang Tianliang, a U.S.-based current affairs commentator, believes Xi’s many contradictory instructions have left officials at a loss, and the top leader’s absolute grips on power have fueled subordinates’ passive resistance.
“After Xi came to power, he focused on one thing: centralizing power ceaselessly,” said Mr. Zhang, adding that Xi has set up various working groups to maintain the highest decision-making dominance. This has led officials to worry about doing the wrong thing and not satisfying Xi, so it is better for them to lie down and do nothing.
On the other hand, Xi is grasping at a bunch of things that can’t be done, bringing all kinds of chaos to officialdom.
Moreover, Mr. Zhang noted that Xi will not decentralize the power to the officials to manage government works in economic, military, and diplomatic affairs at their will, which makes it impossible for the officials to take the initiative to utilize their abilities.
