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In the months following the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, China has launched territorial disputes with India, imposed direct control on Hong Kong, and is generally being much more confrontational with countries with whom they previously had good relations, such as Australia.

China is of course dominated by the C.C.P., but it has been observed that a diversity of thought exists, even if this is not as diverse as in more pluralistic societies. President Xi and his advisors seem to be leading an apparently hawkish approach, but do other factions/schools-of-thought have different opinions?

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  • Probably western media. They are all responses to other events. And India and Australia are nowhere near China's most interested targets by any measures.
    – user23013
    Commented Aug 14, 2020 at 1:34

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An interesting article in the Guardian today gives the point of view of a woman, Cai Xia, who was until recently an insider of the CCP. Her interview is probably not an objective and complete picture, but it provides some insight about the recent trends within the CCP. She argues that:

Xi Jinping has essentially silenced diverging opinions in the CCP

That shows that the Communist party of China has become a political zombie. The party has no ability to correct errors. So he singlehandedly killed a party and a country, showing that even when confronted with such a major question of altering the constitution, the party has no power to stop him.

There are many people in the CCP who disagree with the official line

Q: You said in your remarks that many people in the party “know what is going on in their hearts” and that there must be reform. How common is this view?

I think within the CCP 70%, and among middle- and high-level officials the proportion may be even higher. For many of these cadres, their thinking was most deeply affected by the reform era under Deng Xiaoping. When China joined the World Trade Organization [in 2001], we fully entered the global economy.

Those within the party have experienced the last 20, 30 years and they understand in which direction is right and which is a dead end. We are among a group of cadres who took up our positions after reform and opening. So that is why I say everyone is very clear about what is happening.

The power has become too centralized for Xi Jinping to receive contradictory advice

Because of the power he holds, he can punish whoever he wants so no one dares to give him different opinions and no one dares to report the real situation to him. Since people don’t tell him the truth or hide it from him, he doesn’t necessarily know the truth. So it is inevitable that he will make wrong decisions.

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  • Thanks for this, I saw the same article today ;-) It's certainly rare to hear such candor from someone in that position, though there are still a few academics and business people with the courage to speak out. Will wait and see what else the netizens can dig up before accepting.
    – makelemonade
    Commented Aug 18, 2020 at 23:31

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