‘Rule By Fear’: Intel Sources Warn Chinese Communist Party Uses Torture, Detentions To Silence Rivals

Last Updated:July 08, 2025, 11:35 IST

Sources say anti-corruption campaigns, from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping, have historically served as tools to eliminate political rivals rather than to correct genuine wrongdoing.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has increasingly blurred the lines between the Party, the state, and the military, transforming China into a tightly centralised authoritarian regime, top intelligence sources have told CNN-News18. Under President Xi Jinping, sources say, law has become subordinate to political control, with courts, law enforcement, and the military serving the Party’s supremacy rather than the public interest.

Top intelligence sources report that anti-corruption campaigns, from Mao Zedong to Xi Jinping, have historically served as tools to eliminate political rivals rather than to correct genuine wrongdoing. Xi’s anti-graft body, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), operates outside legal oversight and frequently uses secret detention mechanisms such as Shuanggui and Residential Surveillance at a Designated Location (RSDL)—methods often involving forced confessions and torture, intelligence sources confirm.

More than 100 senior officials from the political and military sectors have been imprisoned or disappeared under vague charges, including over 70 generals from the PLA, Rocket Force, and Air Force, according to military intelligence assessments. Even Xi’s own appointees have not been spared, reflecting a cycle where loyalty is prioritised over military expertise.

The 709 Crackdown, as noted by intelligence sources, saw over 300 lawyers and activists arrested, tortured, or forcibly disappeared. Subsequent legal reforms have placed all judicial actors under CCP ideological supervision, effectively eliminating rule-of-law independence.

Business leaders too have been targets. Top intelligence sources highlight cases like Jack Ma, Bao Fan, Xiao Jianhua, and Hui Ka Yan—each either detained or disappeared after challenging CCP policies or losing political favor. Intelligence assessments also indicate that the CCP embeds loyalists within companies like ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba, regardless of ownership structures, turning private enterprise into instruments of surveillance and propaganda.

Outside China, the CCP’s reach extends globally. Dissidents like Gui Minhai and Lee Bo were abducted overseas, while others face cyberattacks and harassment, often facilitated through Interpol Red Notices. Intelligence sources warn that the CCP enforces political control through a mafia-like structure that criminalises dissent, both domestically and abroad.

First Published:

July 08, 2025, 11:35 IST