Rivals forced out as Xi Jinping embarks on third term as China’s leader

As many as four Xi allies set to be inducted into Politburo Standing Committee on October 23

October 22, 2022 08:01 pm | Updated October 23, 2022 12:13 am IST - Beijing

 Chinese President Xi Jinping votes at the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People on October 22, 2022 in Beijing, China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping votes at the closing ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the Great Hall of the People on October 22, 2022 in Beijing, China. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

China’s ruling Communist Party on Saturday closed its once-in-five-year congress confirming leader Xi Jinping’s precedent-defying third term, and paving the way for his domination of Chinese politics for the next five years.

As many as four allies of Mr. Xi, 69, are expected to be appointed on Sunday to the new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee (PBSC), a clean sweep made possible by the apparently forced early retirement of other officials.

The CPC congress, a usually tightly choreographed affair, concluded on Saturday with two surprises, both of which, in different ways, underlined Mr. Xi’s unchallenged position at the top of the party.

A frail-looking former leader Hu Jintao, 79, who was sitting beside his successor, was unexpectedly escorted off the congress stage before voting was to commence on approving amendments to the party Constitution, which were then passed unanimously in his absence.

Mr. Hu, once a power centre in the party in his own right and more recently known to be in ill-health, had attended the opening of the congress on October 16 and had to be assisted to his seat then. He appeared both reluctant to leave the stage on Saturday and unwell and disoriented, before exchanging a few words with Mr. Xi and second-ranked leader Li Keqiang, whom he patted on the back before being escorted out.

The second surprise was the exclusion of both Mr. Li and fourth-ranked PBSC member Wang Yang — both allies of Mr. Hu — from the new Central Committee that was announced at the congress. Their early retirements — they are both under the unofficial retirement age of 68 — paves the way for as many as four new appointments to the seven-member PBSC, with two other current members due to retire. Mr. Li, however, will continue as Premier until his term ends in March.

All four appointments are likely to be close allies of Mr. Xi, marking for the first time in decades in Chinese politics a “clean sweep” on its most powerful body, which had, in the past, shared power between different party factions.

Mr. Xi, however, has shattered both factional equations as well as the “collective leadership” model, returning China to one-man rule. The congress also approved amendments to the party Constitution further underlining Mr. Xi’s “core” status by calling on the party to “establish his core position and the guiding role” of his ideology and “uphold his core position and the centralised, unified leadership” of the party, called the “two establishes” and “two upholds”.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.