A Chilling Pattern of Vanishing Elites
It starts like a whisper, a rumour exchanged over hushed phone calls and encrypted messages. A high-profile CEO misses a crucial meeting. A celebrated investment banker doesn’t return from a “business trip.” A government minister, seen on international television just weeks ago, is suddenly scrubbed from official websites. In Xi Jinping’s China, this is how people vanish. One moment they are titans of industry and pillars of the state; the next, they are ghosts.
This isn’t a new phenomenon, but the pace and profile of the disappearances have reached an alarming velocity, sending a chilling message from Beijing. What was once described as a targeted anti-corruption campaign now looks more like a systematic purge, designed to enforce absolute loyalty to one man: President Xi Jinping.
The Growing List: From Tech Billionaires to Top Ministers
The list of the “disappeared” grows longer and more prominent by the month. The pattern is clear—no one, no matter how powerful, is safe. Recent examples include:
- Bao Fan: The billionaire dealmaker and founder of investment bank China Renaissance vanished in early 2023. Weeks later, his company confirmed he was “cooperating” with an official investigation.
- Qin Gang: A protégé of Xi, the former Foreign Minister was erased from public life after just seven months on the job, with only vague official explanations of “health reasons” before his official removal.
- Li Shangfu: The Defence Minister, tasked with modernising the People’s Liberation Army, also dropped off the map recently. He is now reportedly under investigation for corruption related to equipment procurement.
From finance to foreign policy to the military, Xi’s purge is cutting a wide swath across China‘s elite.
Beyond Anti-Corruption: A Campaign for Absolute Power
While the convenient and official justification remains “cleaning up corruption,” the underlying motive is power. Now in his unprecedented third term, Xi Jinping is systematically dismantling any and all alternative power centres.
The flamboyant tech billionaire who commands a cult-like following? A threat. The well-connected minister with his own international network? A liability. The powerful general with loyalty from his troops? A potential rival. This crackdown is about ensuring that no individual or faction can ever challenge the supremacy of the Party, and by extension, Xi himself.
The End of an Era: Business Risks Skyrocket
For decades, the unwritten rule in China was a pact between the Communist Party and its entrepreneurs: you can get fabulously wealthy, as long as you stay out of politics. That deal is now officially dead. The crackdown on Jack Ma and Ant Group was the opening shot. Now, every tycoon and executive understands the new reality: your wealth, your company, and your freedom exist solely at the pleasure of the Party. If you step out of line, grow too influential, or simply get caught in the crosshairs of an internal power struggle, you can be erased.
From our vantage point in New Delhi, this pattern is deeply unsettling. For Indian businesses looking to engage with China, the risk calculus has been irrevocably altered. How can you sign a long-term deal when your counterpart could disappear overnight? The political risk, once a manageable factor, has now become a gaping void of uncertainty.
Geopolitical Tremors: An Unpredictable Superpower
The implications of Xi’s purge extend far beyond China‘s borders. A China consumed by internal loyalty tests is an unpredictable and potentially more aggressive neighbour. When top diplomats and defence ministers can be removed without a clear explanation, it disrupts vital channels of communication. This makes crisis management—something crucial for the tense India-China border situation—infinitely more difficult. It signals a system where internal politics and the whims of a single leader trump stable, predictable governance.
What we are witnessing is the consolidation of a new China. It is not the China of “reform and opening up” that sought to integrate with the world. This is Xi’s China, one that demands total ideological conformity and absolute obedience, and where the line between a boardroom and an interrogation room has never been thinner. The bosses are disappearing because, in this new era, there is only one boss that matters. Forgetting that means being forgotten yourself.
