Xi Reveals Zhang’s Fate? Hu Jintao Critically Ill? Song Ping’s $417M Medical Bill Sparks Outrage!

China's political establishment is in turmoil even as the two Sessions meetings are underway. A shocking rumor is spreading rapidly. Zhang Yuxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, is said to have died. Some sources even claim that Xi Jinping himself revealed this information during a military meeting. At the same time, the Chinese military appears to be in a state of unrest. Senior generals are reportedly being purged. Large numbers of officers are applying for discharge, and some dissatisfied figures are said to be forming alliances in opposition to Xi. Meanwhile, the mysterious absence of former leader Hu Jintao from Song Ping's funeral has fueled further speculation about his health and the power calculations taking place behind the scenes. Join us today as we unpack and analyze these startling developments. Did Xi reveal Zhang Yuxia's whereabouts? According to Sound of Hope, a shocking yet highly sensitive rumor has recently emerged. During a meeting with the military delegation at the two Sessions, Xi Jinping reportedly went off-script for more than 30 minutes and stated on the spot that Zhang Yuxia had died. There has been no official confirmation from the authorities, but the fact that the news is circulating at this moment is telling in itself. What Zhongnanhai most wants to avoid right now is the perception that the military's number two figure has been missing for a long time without any explanation. Veteran journalist Heilian Mao believes the claim that Xi personally revealed Zhang Yuxia's fate could be true, and suggests there may be two calculations behind it. The first is to prepare for Donald Trump's potential visit to China at the end of March. U.S. intelligence networks may already know Zhang's real situation. If Trump were to suddenly ask, where is your Central Military Commission vice chairman, Xi would be placed in an awkward position. By speaking first, Xi could unify the narrative and signal that he remains in control. The second calculation may be psychological warfare. The Chinese Communist Party has not stripped Zhang Yuxia of his status as a National People's Congress delegate, suggesting his political influence remains significant. Xi may want to shatter the psychological defenses of Zhang's camp, sending the message that they should not expect their former leader to return and reverse the situation. Meanwhile, the ex-account Xin Gaodi quoted a retired veteran cadre recounting a conversation during the Lunar New Year. He had visited Zhejiang Governor Liu Jie in Hangzhou and, during dinner, asked, Is something major happening in Beijing? On the highway, I saw convoys of military vehicles heading north. Liu Jie did not deny it, but replied, Do you all hope something happens to the leadership every day? Lately, people ask me this almost daily. If nothing changes, your pension will remain the same. But if the situation does change, will you still be able to enjoy a peaceful retirement? The story reflects the mood within official circles. Outward calm, but deep anxiety beneath the surface, almost like waiting for doomsday. In addition, on March 8th, former Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto revealed striking information in an interview with Liberty Times. He cited a leaked internal CCP memo that surfaced after Zhang Yuxia reportedly fell from power, estimating the document's authenticity at about 80 percent. According to the memo, Xi Jinping had no intention of waiting until 2027. Soon after the third plenum of 2024, he seriously considered launching an attack on Taiwan. At that time, however, Zhang Yuxia reportedly blocked the move. While U.S. intelligence has long believed China might target Taiwan around 2027, this document points instead to 2024. Morimoto described Zhang as the brake that prevented Xi from accelerating recklessly. Now that brake may be gone. If Xi Jinping fully consolidates power, the risk of military action by 2026 could increase. Yet he is also confronting multiple other crises at the same time. Hu Jintao Critically Ill? On March 10th, Xi Jinping, along with the seven members of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and Vice President Han Zheng, attended the cremation ceremony to bid farewell to Song Ping, the former Politburo Standing Committee member who lived to the age of 109. Former CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao only sent a wreath and expressed condolences, but did not attend the memorial service or appear publicly. Official reports offered no explanation for Hu Jintao's absence, which many observers found unusual. Jiang Wanzheng, who currently lives in Australia, wrote in a post that Hu Jintao's son, Hu Haifeng, had refused to authorize the removal of life support equipment. He claimed that only after Hu Haifeng was transferred in May to become Deputy Party Secretary of Gansu Province would Hu Jintao pass away that same month. The phrase pass away here clearly refers to death. I have no way to verify Jiang's claim, but if it were true, it would suggest that Hu Jintao, in his later years, has become critically ill and may now be relying on a ventilator to sustain his life. According to public records, Hu Jintao came from a modest background. His rise through the political ranks, and ultimately his becoming the leader of the CCP, was strongly supported by Song Ping behind the scenes. Some pro-Beijing media in Hong Kong even referred to Song Ping as the greatest talent scout in CCP politics. In the 1980s, when Hu Jintao served as Deputy Director of the Construction Commission in Gansu Province, he received strong backing from Song Ping, who was then the Provincial Party Secretary. With Song's recommendation, Hu was able to advance rapidly in his political career. Chinese state media have reported that after Song Ping stepped down from the Politburo Standing Committee in 1992, he still recommended to Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yun, and other top CCP leaders that Hu Jintao be promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee. Hong Kong media with CCP ties have also noted that Hu's entry into the Standing Committee, and later his designation by Deng Xiaoping as a cross-generation successor, could not have happened without Song Ping's mentorship. For Hu Jintao, Song Ping was essentially his political mentor. However, commentator Lee Myung mentioned another rumor that Xi Jinping did not permit Hu Jintao to attend Song Ping's memorial. According to this claim, Song Ping left a will expressing the hope that Hu Jintao would preside over the arrangements after his death. Since Hu was the most outstanding official, Song had personally trained and represented his greatest political legacy. But the will reportedly touched a sensitive nerve for Xi Jinping. As a result, Xi allegedly declared that Hu Jintao should not only be barred from the memorial ceremony, but even excluded from viewing the body. At present, it is unclear which of these rumors, if either, is true, or whether they are simply pieces of disinformation meant to create confusion. Which possibility do you think seems more likely? Did Song Ping spend billions to stay alive? Commentator Lee Myung said that before Song Ping's death was officially announced on March 4, the Chinese Communist Party had spent enormous sums to keep him alive. Song had been on life support at Beijing's PLA General Hospital, Hospital 301, for one year and eight months, about 20 months in total. Zhang Guangjiang revealed that Song Ping was among the senior officials covered by the CCP's 981 Leadership Healthcare Project. According to Zhang, Song's two sons and two grandsons refused to authorize the removal of life support, so he remained dependent on a ventilator. Song Ping had two sons. The elder Song Yichang is a science popularization and military writer in mainland China. The younger is Song Yichun. Song Yichang's son, Song Xinrong, earned a graduate degree from Peking University and joined the CCP's National Development and Reform Commission in 2022. He was later transferred to the National Information Center, where he now serves as an Assistant Research Fellow at the Section Chief level. Song Yichun's son, Song Weijia, currently works at China Construction Bank as a Youth Committee member in the party branch of the Fintech Department and also serves as Secretary of the Youth League Branch, a position roughly equivalent to the division chief rank. According to Zhang's claims, the CCP spent more than 300 million yuan in just over a year merely to maintain Song Ping's vital signs. Another source, however, suggested the total could have exceeded 3 billion yuan. Someone familiar with the situation reportedly revealed that since 2003, the CCP had allocated a special annual budget of 150 million yuan specifically to sustain Song Ping's health. If calculated from 2003 to today, about 23 years, the total expenditure would reach roughly In other words, to pursue the ambitious goal of living to 150 years old, once promoted by Xi Jinping, the CCP poured an enormous amount of money into keeping Song Ping alive. Yet in the end, it still fell short of that vision. By more than 40 years, Song Ping remains the longest-lived retired senior official in CCP history, but he ultimately lived to 109. Xi's decapitating of At a meeting of the military delegation during the two sessions, on March 7, Xi Jinping delivered a speech. Footage broadcast by China Central Television showed him in military uniform, brows tightly furrowed and the corners of his mouth turned downward, his face unusually stern. At one point he said, The generals seated below kept their heads down, stiffly taking notes. Most did not dare look up directly. Reports also claimed that when the generals entered the venue, they were surrounded and searched by a group of black-clad special police officers and were even required to remove their military caps for inspection. For military personnel, such treatment was widely seen as humiliating. According to Sound of Hope, many officers were deeply dissatisfied. Some reportedly coordinated quietly with delegates from the armed police to draft a collective petition. After internal discussions on March 8, the proposal was submitted to the conference secretariat, calling for an investigation into Zhang Youxia's whereabouts and a reorganization of the Central Military Commission. In reality, morale within the military is said to be increasingly unsettled, with a growing wave of resignations and transfers. Many officers have applied to leave the service or switch careers, while those still in position largely remain silent, speaking less and doing less. According to the website of China's Ministry of Veterans Affairs, more than 60,000 officers and soldiers who transferred or retired from the military were assigned civilian jobs in 2024. That figure is similar to 2023 and more than 10,000 higher than in 2022. While the government has not yet released nationwide data for 2025, local statistics suggest the number could rise even further. Australian-based Chinese legal scholar Yuan Hongbing once told Secret China that Xi Jinping has gained a new nickname, the General Executioner. The term implies he acts like an executioner who repeatedly purges the CCP's top generals. Xi's sweeping purge and rectification campaign has created an atmosphere of near-apocalyptic fear. Officials live in constant anxiety, unsure when disaster might strike them next. Yuan argues that Xi's beheading campaign has produced major results, with large-scale purges of military and political leaders at every level of the armed forces. Some analysts believe 2026 could mark the Chinese military's weakest period. Although its manpower remains large, Xi's sweeping purges have turned it into what critics describe as a brain-paralyzed giant, stripping it of genuine combat will. Yuan Hongbing also claimed that Xi's purge has even targeted generals from his own faction. As a result, rumors circulating among Beijing officials describe Xi as possessing a kind of extreme domestic violence mentality. The purpose of the purge, they say, is to force absolute personal loyalty to Xi. And that demand for absolute loyalty is the most dangerous aspect. It risks turning the military into a mockery, loyal but unable to fight wars. According to this view, the top leadership has been shattered by purges. Mid-level officers are afraid to take responsibility, and combat capability at the lower levels is inflated through falsified training records and exaggerated statistics. Professional talent continues to leave the military, and the command chain is increasingly fractured. If a real war were to break out, slogans about loyalty alone would not prevent defeat. The military, critics argue, has effectively become a tool of personal loyalty. On March 8, an ex-Twitter user named Finding Xingui Hertu claimed that four CIA recruitment videos aimed at potential informants had reached 120 million views on YouTube. Some netizens commented bluntly that people were busy leaving the darkness to find the light. A commentator named Tian Wen argued that these videos did not feel like ordinary spy recruitment, but more like a guide to a new world. People, he said, are searching for a way out. Some tried the front door, only to find it welded shut. When the CIA offered what looked like a lifeline, tens of millions of souls began moving quietly in the shadows. Against this backdrop, Kai Xia, a former professor at the CCP Central Party School, wrote on X that such reports reflect the real undercurrents within the CCP system. At the most basic level, people simply want to live safely with their families. The system is not a solid block of iron. Everyone must find their own path to survival. That is human nature. Even Xi Jinping's closest enforcers and officials who carry out repression may ultimately end up as expendable sacrifices. Another well-known commentator, Fan Wei, wrote that if the viewing figures are accurate, it means at least 10 million Chinese citizens have watched those videos. That alone would show how deeply the CCP has lost public trust and how a major crisis may be brewing beneath what appears to be a calm surface. So where will China's ship ultimately head? Share your thoughts in the comments below. Thank you and see you next time.