Party congress of China's communists ends in scandal

Created: 2022-10-23 06:31

By: Christiane Kühl, Sven Hauberg

China's ex-head of state Hu Jintao is surprisingly led out of the hall at the end of the Communist Party Congress in front of the eyes of the world public.

Here he throws a few words to his successor Xi Jinping.

© NOEL CELIS/AFP

China's ex-head of state Hu Jintao is surprisingly led out of the hall at the end of the Communist Party Congress - before the eyes of the world.

A show of force by the strongman Xi Jinping?

Munich/Beijing - The 20th National Congress of China's Communist Party ended on Saturday (October 22) with ugly scenes.

As can be seen on video footage, Hu Jintao, the predecessor of State and Party leader Xi Jinping, was led out of the hall shortly before the votes on amending the constitution.

Two room stewards escort the 79-year-old Hu out, apparently against his will.

Cameras had just been let into the hall so that everything took place in full view of the public.

Hu turned to Xi again as he walked and said a few words, even resting his hand on the party leader's shoulder.

Hu Jintao was General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012.

There has never been an incident like this at a Chinese Communist Party convention, let alone before the eyes of the world.

The former party leaders have so far been considered untouchable.

Whether Xi planned Hu's removal from the hall as a public show of force is unknown.

It's conceivable: the party congresses of China's communists, which only take place every five years, are usually strictly orchestrated, and nothing is left to chance.

Normally, however, all power struggles in the Communist Party take place behind closed doors.

It is therefore also possible that Hu, who will be 80 in December and looks frail on the recordings, had to leave the room due to a health emergency that he himself did not want to see.

There were also rumors circulating online that

Hu had tested positive for the corona virus.

Experts also emphasized on Saturday that one could only speculate.

Nobody knows anything.

China Communist Party Congress: Xi Jinping to secure third term

Xi initially appears impassive in the footage, but then seems to confirm Hu's distance with a nod.

Hu also seems to be saying goodbye to Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who is sitting next to Xi.

It is known that Hu Jintao is not necessarily a supporter of his successor, Xi Jinping.

Conversely, when Xi came to power in 2012, he was said to have been angry about the inefficiency and reform backlog in the Hu era.

Li Keqiang, on the other hand, is a protégé of Hus: the ex-head of state ensured that Li was at the head of the government.

The relationship between Xi and Li is also considered tense.

After Hu left the hall, the party congress, which had mostly been held behind closed doors since last Sunday, ended in the usual way.

This is how the new Central Committee (CC) of the CCP was introduced.

The Central Committee has 205 members, including only eleven women.

The Central Committee meets for its first plenary session tomorrow, Sunday, to appoint the new Politburo and its Standing Committee, which is expected to have seven members – China's power center.

It is certain that Xi Jinping will once again head the Central Committee as Secretary General.

Xi would then be the first head of state and party leader since the founder of the state, Mao Zedong, to remain in office for more than two terms.

It is also expected that next March Xi will be appointed president for the third time.

He had the constitution changed specifically for this purpose in 2018.

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Groundbreaking decisions expected in China's leadership center

It remains unclear who will form the new Standing Committee with Xi.

At the beginning of the party congress, scenes in which Xi was apparently concerned about the weak-looking Hu led to speculation that the party leader would take Hu's opinion on personal details into account more than expected shortly before the conference.

In any case, Prime Minister Li Keqiang is no longer part of the new Central Committee, even though at 67 he was just under the unofficial age limit of 68.

He will also step down as prime minister in March.

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Shanghai Party leader Li Qiang and Deputy Prime Minister Hu Chunhua are the favorites to succeed him.

The decision would point the way: Li Qiang is a proven Xi loyalist who is also responsible for the botched lockdown in Shanghai.

At 59, Hu Chunhua is so young that he could even be considered a possible successor to Xi.

His problem: He is one of the confidants of Li Keqiang and Hu Jintao, so he is not an ally of the strong man.

Xi Jinping continues to expand his position of power

Besides Li Keqiang, three other members of the Politburo Standing Committee are no longer part of the Central Committee: Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the National People's Congress, Vice Premier Han Zheng, and Wang Yang, Chairman of the Chinese People's Consultative Conference.

The veteran Wang had previously also been considered a candidate for the post of prime minister.

Four out of seven positions in China's power center are expected to be filled on Sunday.

Meanwhile, there was no big bang when the party constitution was changed.

Xi was never referred to as "chairman" or "leader" in any way, nor were his previous political theories reduced to "Xi Jinping Thought" - corresponding to the "Mao Zedong Thought" of China's founder.

Apparently, Xi has not succeeded in putting himself on the same level as Mao ideologically.

Nevertheless, the 69-year-old firmly established himself at the head of the party.

The delegates included several of Xi’s theoretical concepts in the CP constitution, including the “Two Establishments”, which established Xi Jinping’s position of power as the “core of the party” and his “Xi Jinping Thoughts for Socialism Chinese Characteristics in the New Era” as guidelines.

Also included are the "Two Preservations," which concern Xi Jinping as a key figure and the party's centralized, unified leadership.

In his speech on the first day of the party congress, Xi had already stopped mentioning earlier ideas such as “internal democracy”.