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US sailors conduct routine maintenance on a jet blast deflector on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz on July 9, 2025. (US Navy)
The Chinese Communist Party is an opaque authoritarian regime that many observers mistake as monolithic. But behind the image of strongman leadership lie precarious factions, power struggles, and a dangerous tension between reform and stability. Few figures in modern Chinese history embody these contradictions more vividly than Hu Yaobang, a former party official who was forced to resign due to his alleged tolerance of pro-liberalization protests.
Join Senior Fellow Michael Sobolik for a conversation with Robert Suettinger and Piero Tozzi about Suettinger’s book The Conscience of the Party, which explores how Hu’s story illuminates the broader patterns of CCP factional struggle. They will discuss what Hu’s experiences and legacy can teach policymakers about contemporary CCP power struggles, purges, and the ongoing tension between reformist impulses and the pursuit of stability under Xi Jinping.
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Related Research
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A screen shows images of China's President Xi Jinping in Shanghai on February 27, 2025. (Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images)
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(Screenshot via Fox News)
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(China Insider Logo)