On October 22, 2022, the final day of the 20th Chinese Congress, Xi Jinping entered his third term as President of the People’s Republic of China. At these conventions, all members of the Communist Party attend. They are seated circularly with all leaders, past and present, sitting in the middle.
These leaders include past presidents of China and heads of the Communist Party. At this year’s meeting, a disturbance was made by Hu Jintao, the former president of China and Xi Jinping’s predecessor. In the media, Hu, age seventy-nine, is presented as a man who is unwell and fragile.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Hu was fiddling with a red folder containing information about the “Central Committee.” He should have previously known about the document. However, Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of China, takes it away when he reaches for it. As this continues, Hu’s bodyguard arrives and talks with Xi Jinping.
Later, Hu Jintao is exited from the meeting. On his way out, he passes the other Congress members. Hu stops and briefly speaks to Xi Jinping, who nods but doesn’t otherwise acknowledge him. He also tries to contact other party members, but they don’t recognize him, including his former vice president, Wen Jiabao.
After this encounter, the Chinese government revealed that Hu’s actions resulted from health issues that left him disoriented. A CNN article suggests that this may be true, but others speculate it was a power move made by Xi Jinping. Some people disagree and hint at Hu asserting his disapproval of Xi.
Xi is known for a unicameral style of governing, and this event showcases its possible flaws. A director of SOAS China Institute at the University of London suggests that Hu’s removal was likely not planned. However, Hu acted differently than Xi expected, which prompted the removal.
“For whatever reasons, Xi ordered Hu to be escorted out when he must have thought that Hu might not behave exactly as Xi would have wanted,” said Steve Tsang, director of School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), according to CNN News.
In an article titled “Hu Jintao’s Drama reveals Beijing’s Fundamental Flaws” by Foreign Policy, there is a disturbance in the once-united Communist Party. Other members of the party have revealed ideologies that contradict Xi Jinping’s, and the public has taken notice.
Analysts have also noted that Xi Jinping’s removal of Hu Jintao showcases his hold of absolute power. Tsang further explains that the Communist Party is now under the full authority of Xi.
“Xi had reduced the once powerful (Communist) Youth League faction to insignificance…With no successor in sight, and the previous leader humiliated, Xi had projected to the party that…no one in the party should look over his shoulder for another leader, be him the future or the past leader…Now there is only one leader in China,” Tsang said.
