BEIJING —
Chinese President Xi Jinping locked in support
for a historic third term in power at the Communist Party’s Congress on
Saturday, but the dramatic removal of his predecessor from the event stole the
headlines.
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At the end of the
week-long gathering in Beijing, China’s ruling party approved a sweeping
reshuffle that saw a number of top officials — including Premier Li Keqiang —
step down, allowing Xi to appoint new allies.
The largely
rubber-stamp meeting of around 2,300 party delegates was meticulously
choreographed, with Xi determined to avoid any surprises as he enshrined his
leadership for the next five years.
However, in an
unexpected move that punctured the proceedings at the Great Hall of the People,
former leader Hu Jintao was led out of the closing ceremony.
The frail-looking
79-year-old seemed reluctant to leave the front row where he was sitting next
to Xi.
State media
reported late Saturday that Hu was “not feeling well” when he was removed.
“Xinhuanet reporter
Liu Jiawen has learned that Hu Jintao insisted on attending the closing session
... despite the fact that he has been taking time to recuperate recently,”
Xinhua said on Twitter.
“When he was not
feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to
a room next to the meeting venue for a rest. Now, he is much better.”
‘Core position’
Delegates then approved a call obliging all party members to “uphold
Comrade
Xi Jinping’s core position on the Party Central Committee and in the
party as a whole”, according to a unanimously passed resolution on changes to
the party charter.
Xi is now all but
certain to be unveiled as general secretary on Sunday, shortly after the first
meeting of the new Central Committee.
This will allow Xi
to sail through to a third term as China’s president, due to be announced
during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.
The
Central Committee of around 200 senior party officials was elected shortly before the
closing ceremony.
A list of officials
in the group revealed that four out of seven members of the party’s Standing
Committee — the apex of power — would retire.
Among them is
Premier Li Keqiang, as well as fellow Politburo Standing Committee members Wang
Yang — who was touted as a possible successor to Li — Han Zheng, and Li
Zhanshu.
Han and Li Zhanshu
were widely expected to step down, having surpassed the informal age limit of
68 for Politburo-level officials — a requirement not extended to 69-year-old
Xi.
Wang and Li
Keqiang, both 67, could still have continued in the Standing Committee or
25-member Politburo for another five-year term.
Other high-profile
Communist Party top brass absent from the new Central Committee include
high-ranking diplomat Yang Jiechi and economic tsar Liu He.
Rubber stamp
Analysts were closely watching for whether the party charter would be
amended to enshrine “Xi Jinping Thought” as a guiding philosophy, a move that
would put Xi on a par with Mao Zedong.
That did not take
place, though the resolution did call the creed “the Marxism of contemporary
China and of the 21st century”, adding that it “embodies the best Chinese
culture and ethos of this era”.
Xi previously
abolished the presidential two-term limit in 2018, paving the way for him to
rule indefinitely.
The congress has
effectively cemented Xi’s position as China’s most powerful leader since Mao.
“Xi’s power will be
akin to that of the dictator of China, and there will be next to no scope for
anyone to advise him to attempt course correction,” said Steve Tsang, director
of the SOAS China Institute at the
University of London.
One of the key
questions outstanding is if Xi will appoint a potential successor to the
Politburo Standing Committee. This could be answered on Sunday when the
Standing Committee is unveiled.
Delegates also on
Saturday enshrined in the party’s constitution opposition to Taiwanese
independence. Beijing has always pledged to retake the self-ruled democratic
island, by force if necessary.
Taiwan’s Mainland
Affairs Council accused China late Saturday of harboring an “old mindset of
invasion and confrontation” and called on Beijing to “resolve differences
through peaceful, equitable and realistic means”.
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