Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign ‘to weed out rivals’, says Lee Kuan Yew’s daughter
Criticism made by outspoken sister of Singapore’s prime minister in a rare salvo against Beijing by Southeast Asian leaders or their families
The daughter of Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew appears to have weighed in on the debate over President Xi Jinping’s much touted anti-corruption campaign in China, describing it as “a game” designed to tighten his grip on power.
“Xi is playing a game where he appears to weed out ‘corrupts’” while replacing them with “his own people”, said Dr Lee Wei Ling, a neurosurgeon and the younger sister of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, on her Facebook account on January 1.
She was commenting on a report by The Guardian newspaper, which cited mainland authorities as saying Beijing had recovered 2.3 billion yuan (HK2.56 billion) from losses to corruption and arrested 122 government officials who were on the run last year.
While Xi openly warns that the Communist Party’s legitimacy hinges on the fight against rampant official corruption, his critics have long argued the anti-graft drive he launched after taking office in late 2012 was largely aimed at tearing down or silencing his opponents.