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Chinese President Xi Jinping, 69, is all set for an unprecedented third five-year term as the key congress of the ruling Communist party on Saturday cemented his power further, edging out several senior leaders, including No. 2 leader Premier Li Keqiang, in a major shake-up.
In an unexpected move, former leader Hu Jintao, 79, was escorted out of the Great Hall of the People. State media Xinhua later said he was taken out as he “was not feeling well”. “…his staff accompanied him to a room for rest,” it said.
Loyalists in, moderates out as Xi expands his power
Xi has transformed China through his authoritarian rule over the past decade, purging potential rivals, crushing dissent and reasserting the central role of the Communist Party across Chinese society. Xi has long been expected to secure a third five-year term as the party’s general secretary. But evidence of his even tighter hold over the party came on Saturday, when the Communist Party congress approved a new membership list for the Central Committee, the elite body from which China’s top leaders are drawn.
That list showed that several senior figures were stepping down, opening the way for more of Xi’s favoured officials to rise into the Politburo Standing Committee, the highest decision-making body. Xi’s control at the top will become even more entrenched, meaning less likelihood of elite pushback against his policies, which include a pugnacious stance toward Washington, and ever-greater party steering of the economy, technology and the internet.
“China has entered a new era of maximum Xi,” said Neil Thomas, an analyst of Chinese politics for the Eurasia Group. “A more Xi-centric Standing Committee means more support for Xi’s policies, a stronger focus on political control, economic statism, and assertive diplomacy.”
Xi’s new term and his leadership team will not be officially confirmed until Sunday, when the new Central Committee meets and holds a carefully controlled vote. But the scale of Xi’s victory was already clear from scanning the Central Committee list, experts said. Hu Chunhua, currently a vice premier, may be the sole new entrant into the ruling Politburo Standing Committee who does not have robust ties to Xi.
The premier, Li Keqiang and another senior official, Wang Yang, both stepped down Saturday from the Central Committee, indicating that both are set to retire. Li has served for the past decade as China’s premier, the second most powerful post in China with direct authority over government agencies. But Xi has overshadowed Li for years, including in economic policy, a realm that premiers once dominated.
“There’s been a lot about the premier-as-saviour talk – that these officials could stay around and push back against Xi, but obviously that’s not going to happen,” said Christopher K. Johnson, the president of the China Strategies Group and a former CIA analyst of Chinese politics. “Proximity to Xi is all that really matters now.”
The congress also approved amendments to the party charter – its foundational rules – that enhanced Xi’s official status and emphasized his ambitions to make one-party rule a permanent fact for China.
In an unexpected move, former leader Hu Jintao, 79, was escorted out of the Great Hall of the People. State media Xinhua later said he was taken out as he “was not feeling well”. “…his staff accompanied him to a room for rest,” it said.
Loyalists in, moderates out as Xi expands his power
Xi has transformed China through his authoritarian rule over the past decade, purging potential rivals, crushing dissent and reasserting the central role of the Communist Party across Chinese society. Xi has long been expected to secure a third five-year term as the party’s general secretary. But evidence of his even tighter hold over the party came on Saturday, when the Communist Party congress approved a new membership list for the Central Committee, the elite body from which China’s top leaders are drawn.
That list showed that several senior figures were stepping down, opening the way for more of Xi’s favoured officials to rise into the Politburo Standing Committee, the highest decision-making body. Xi’s control at the top will become even more entrenched, meaning less likelihood of elite pushback against his policies, which include a pugnacious stance toward Washington, and ever-greater party steering of the economy, technology and the internet.
“China has entered a new era of maximum Xi,” said Neil Thomas, an analyst of Chinese politics for the Eurasia Group. “A more Xi-centric Standing Committee means more support for Xi’s policies, a stronger focus on political control, economic statism, and assertive diplomacy.”
Xi’s new term and his leadership team will not be officially confirmed until Sunday, when the new Central Committee meets and holds a carefully controlled vote. But the scale of Xi’s victory was already clear from scanning the Central Committee list, experts said. Hu Chunhua, currently a vice premier, may be the sole new entrant into the ruling Politburo Standing Committee who does not have robust ties to Xi.
The premier, Li Keqiang and another senior official, Wang Yang, both stepped down Saturday from the Central Committee, indicating that both are set to retire. Li has served for the past decade as China’s premier, the second most powerful post in China with direct authority over government agencies. But Xi has overshadowed Li for years, including in economic policy, a realm that premiers once dominated.
“There’s been a lot about the premier-as-saviour talk – that these officials could stay around and push back against Xi, but obviously that’s not going to happen,” said Christopher K. Johnson, the president of the China Strategies Group and a former CIA analyst of Chinese politics. “Proximity to Xi is all that really matters now.”
The congress also approved amendments to the party charter – its foundational rules – that enhanced Xi’s official status and emphasized his ambitions to make one-party rule a permanent fact for China.
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