Speaking of the Possibility of Ousting Xi Jinping

Wang Youqun
17 May 2021

On April 30, Roger Garside, who served as a British diplomat in China twice, wrote an opinion article in the Globe and Mail, titled “Regime change in China is not only possible, it is imperative,” in which he posits his views on how to change the course of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s China.

Garside wrote, “Much of the Chinese elite is deeply opposed to the course to which Mr. Xi is committed. They recognize that economic reform without political change has created problems that damage China as a nation and pose a risk to their own interests.”

However, at present, due to Xi’s totalitarian rule, political reform will not happen. What to do? Garside believes that there are two possible options: one is to overthrow Xi through a coup d’état—the strained U.S.-China relationship could play a key role in launching a coup against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The second is to prevent Xi from becoming the Party leader again at the 20th National Congress. Xi’s opponents can use this opportunity to push China onto the path of change. The United States and its allies can take advantage of economic, financial, and technological advances to “engineer conditions to facilitate regime change in China.”

Garside’s views seem reasonable on the surface. However, I believe there’s a lack of thorough understanding of the current state of the CCP and the crux of its problems.

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