TOKYO – In a fresh sign of the bitter power struggle going on in China, an explosive open letter appeared briefly on a state-sanctioned website calling for President Xi Jinping to resign over economic mismanagement.
The letter was not signed. It was posted by Wujie News in early March, shortly before the National People’s Congress, China’s parliament, kicked off its annual meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
Xi also helms the Chinese Communist Party. The highly unusual public lambasting blamed Xi for China’s slowing economy, now the world’s second-largest, and called for him to resign from all party and state leadership posts.
It did not start out this way for Xi, who became president a little more than three years ago and launched a sweeping anti-corruption campaign to wide acclaim.
The campaign, however, quickly became a hammer that Xi has wielded against political foes and to consolidate power.
