Xi Jinping decries conspirators within his party but says there's no House of Cards in China

BEIJING: Chinese president Xi Jinping referred to 'House of Cards' to explain that China does not have the kind of power struggle depicted in the American TV serial. But he warned that the Communist Party has many conspirators,"cabals and cliques", who are trying to damage the party and the nation's security.
"There are careerists and conspirators existing in our party and undermining the party's governance," Xi said in a speech released by the official People's Daily on Tuesday."We should not bury our heads in the sand and spare these members but must make a resolute response to eliminate the problem and deter further violations".
This is the second in a week that Xi has lashed out against a section of officials within the ruling party. He recently said that some teachers in Communist schools were spread western capitalist values during their lectures to the party cadre.
Some of the teachers even made groundless comments about the Party and the government's policies besides participating in "nondescript" and dubious social activities, he said at a party school in Beijing.
The House of Cards depicts corrupt practices in Beijing, and profiles a politically connected Chinese businessman who gets into trouble as Chinese authorities change their dealings with the United States. This was seen by some as a signal that China's anti-corruption drive is selective, and makes scapegoats of officials who are not liked by top leaders.
Challenging this view, Xi said, ""We must make it clear that our Party's fight against corruption is not a snobbish affair that discriminates between different people, and it is not a 'House of Cards' power struggle".
Xi, who is also the general secretary of the Communist Party of China, made the speech to the CPC Central Committee way back in January but it is only today that the official media released it.
In the speech, he said "some officials have been forming cabals and cliques to covertly defy the CPC Central Committee's decisions and policies" and that they "risk compromising the political security of the Party and the country." He contested the idea that the anti-graft campaign would be wound down, and promised to intensify it.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party has put property tycoon and one of China's most famous bloggers, Ren Zhiqiang, on a year-long probation for violating party discipline, state media said. Chinese censors had blocked the social media site of the tycoon, who had 37 million followers, last February. He had withdrawn himself from active business and gone into retirement in October, 2014, state media said.