Xi Jinping's campaign to purge Communist Party 'won't be easy'
Drive to get rid of 'unqualified members' could be turned into a political vendetta, analysts warn, adding the cull should start at the top
A leading communist academic on the mainland has warned that plans to downsize the Communist Party, with more than 82 million members the world's biggest political party, would not be easy to implement.
The party has said it plans to expel "unqualified party members" in an effort to boost its vitality and reputation. But analysts say there is a danger it could be turned into a political campaign and used to get rid of opponents.
The campaign stems from comments by party chief Xi Jinping last month at a Politburo meeting about cultivating new party members. He vowed to control the size of the party and purge "unqualified members" in a timely manner.
Li Junru, a former vice-president of the Central Party School and a mastermind of the scheme, said downsizing had been proposed by former school president Zeng Qinghong when he was in charge of party affairs five years ago.
"We found that some applicants for party membership were not pure and even had their own, different political aims," Li said, adding that the party had set up a pilot programme at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou to expel unqualified members.
We found that some applicants for party membership were not pure and even had their own, different political aims
"When I was vice-president [of the party school] about five years ago, we once planned to cut 10 million of the party's membership of 70 million, but we found it was not an easy job," Li said.