The mystery of Hu Jintao’s exit and China’s hidden tensions
Why was Xi Jinping’s predecessor as president ‘firmly escorted’ from last week’s congress?
A single image from last week’s Chinese Communist Party Congress underlined “the utter ruthlessness of Xi Jinping’s pursuit of absolute power”, said Con Coughlin in The Daily Telegraph. It was the sight of Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor as president of China, being “reluctantly but firmly escorted from the closing ceremony”.
Was Hu taken ill, as officials claimed? Or, more likely, was he being humiliated, symbolically purged? Either way, the Congress was “the crowning moment” of Xi’s autocratic rule, as he began a third five-year term. That in itself is unprecedented in recent history: after Mao Zedong died in 1976, a two-term limit was imposed to ensure no leader could repeat his tyranny. But the Party lifted the ban in 2018, allowing Xi to stay in power for life, should he wish to.
And it looks like he does, said Cindy Yu in The Spectator. The new Politburo Standing Committee – the seven-member inner cabinet of Chinese politics – has been “packed with Xi acolytes”. The premier Li Keqiang, Hu’s former protégé, has been demoted after daring to query the cost of Xi’s draconian zero-Covid strategy. His replacement will be the Shanghai party secretary Li Qiang, whose “boneheaded dedication” to China’s lockdowns has recommended him in Xi’s eyes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Image of total consensus
The Communist Party’s propagandists try to project an image of total consensus, confirming Xi’s “absolute control and unquestioned wisdom”, said Dominic Lawson in The Sunday Times. But there’s a “ferment beneath the carapace of Confucian harmony”.
Great tensions are growing: an estimated 1.4 million people were arrested in the run-up to the Party Congress, to guarantee its “security and stability”. Xi’s zero-Covid policy, which places “entire cities under a form of house arrest”, is widely hated, particularly by young people. The birth rate is steadily declining, despite Xi’s efforts to avert demographic disaster by reversing Mao’s one-child policy.
China is facing “stagnation and deterioration”, said David Von Drehle in The Washington Post. Xi is sitting on a “debt bomb”, and the country’s overheated property sector is in crisis. The workforce is ageing, and the economy is “stalling”: it’s no coincidence that China has abruptly stopped publishing its economic data.
Xi is ‘an old man in a hurry’
All this may only make Xi more dangerous, said Mark Almond in the Daily Mail. Now 69, he’s “an old man in a hurry and determined to leave a lasting legacy of Chinese supremacy”. The obvious flash-point is the “island democracy” of Taiwan, which the US navy thinks Beijing could invade as early as next year.
Whether or not that happens, China’s direction of travel under Xi is clear, said The Observer. His “personality cult” is entrenched, and his speeches at the Congress show that he sees the outside world as an “increasingly hostile” place. “His vision for China suggests more repression at home, more state interference in the economy – and aggression abroad.”
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Major League Baseball is facing an epidemic of pitcher's injuries
Under the Radar Many insiders are blaming the pitch clock for the rise in injuries — but the league is not so sure
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
8 movie musicals that prove the screen can share the stage
The Week Recommends The singing and dancing, bigger than life itself
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
2024 Mother's Day Gift Guide
The Week Recommends A present for every mom
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Coming to America
Opinion Why the melting pot should be a source of national pride
By Theunis Bates Published
-
Russia gains as Ukraine awaits US aid
Speed Read Ukrainian forces have retreated from several villages as the situation at the front line worsens
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Sudan's year of civil war: 'the world has turned its back'
Talking Point Fractured state has 'essentially collapsed' as conflict between rival militias stretches on
By The Week UK Published
-
Haiti interim council, prime minister sworn in
Speed Read Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns amid surging gang violence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
India elections start amid violence, hate speech accusations
Talking Points Narendra Modi seeks a third term while critics worry about the future of the country's democracy
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Sitting in judgment on Trump
Opinion Who'd want to be on this jury?
By Susan Caskie Published
-
Myanmar: the Spring Revolution and the downfall of the generals
Talking Point An armed protest movement has swept across the country since the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi was overthrown in 2021
By The Week Staff Published
-
Israel hits Iran with retaliatory airstrike
Speed Read The attack comes after Iran's drone and missile barrage last weekend
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published