October 22, 2022, 7:25 AM
October 22, 2022, 7:25 AM
In the midst of the closing ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party Congress, former President Hu Jintao was lifted from his seat and led out of the assembly hall.
A frail-looking 79-year-old, the former Chinese leader was sitting next to current President Xi Jinping when he was approached by officials who urged him to get up and leave.
No explanation was provided.
After a week of congress, the party is expected to confirm Xi, 69, in a historic third term.
This event is held in Beijing every five years and on this occasion Xi’s consolidation as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong is highlighted.
Hu Jintao, who held the presidency between 2003 and 2013, was on the scene when the two officials approached him. You can see that he says something to Xi Jinping and how Xi Jinping responds by nodding his head.
That is when Hu is taken from the Great Hall of the People.
Analysis – Stephen McDonell, China Correspondent
Images of Hu Jintao being escorted off the stage draw global attention as people try to find out what happened. At the moment there is many unanswered questions by the Chinese government.
The country’s former leader, at one point, seemed reluctant to leave. Why? What did he say to Xi Jinping that caused Xi to nod his head? And what did he say to the high official Li Keqing when he tapped him on the shoulder before leaving?
There are two most likely reasons for your departure. The first: one complete demonstration of the political powers in China, with the former leader being symbolically removed. The second: that Hun Jintao has serious health problems.
But if they took him away because he is sick, why is this happening all of a sudden? Why in front of the cameras? Was it an emergency?
A longer shot of today’s image shows Xi Jinping turning to the former party leader and also, to Hu’s left, senior officials Li Zhanshu and Wang Huning looking concerned.
Mass meetings of the Communist Party are usually highly scripted eventsprompting speculation that Hu Jintao’s departure was no mere accident.
Jintao attended the closed-door pre-session on the last day of the Congress. Cameras were then allowed in for the final leg of the day. Only after the cameras were installed did the officers come over to show Hu out.
The former president represents a China very different from that of Xi Jinping. Hu held a much more collective leadership and had to balance various factions represented on the Politburo Standing Committee.
The Hu years were seen as a time of openness to the outside world with increased tolerance for new ideas.
As the party’s general secretary, Xi has taken the country in a very different direction, placing himself at the “center” of decisions and negating challenges against him.
The new Central Committee does not include Li Keqiang or Wan Yang, both seen as economic liberals and linked to the ideas of the previous administration.
This points to a new Politburo Standing Committee filled with Xi loyalists.
Earlier, on Saturday, the 205 senior officials of the Central Committee were elected. Delegates approved amendments to the party constitution endorsing Xi’s ideas as guiding principles for China’s future.
In his opening speech to Congress last Sunday, Xi hailed crushing the democracy movement in Hong Kong as a transition from “chaos to governance.” He also reaffirmed China’s right to use force to control the autonomous island of Taiwan.
Xi currently combines the posts of general secretary of the Communist Party, president and chief of the armed forces. He is also known as Supreme Leader.
It is expected that at the end of this Congress he will be officially confirmed in his third term as Secretary General and that his new leadership team will be confirmed.
Xi abolished the two-term limit on the presidency in 2018, paving the way for indefinite presidency.
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