In the closed and secretive world of Chinese politics,the bitter power struggles constantly taking place between rival factions in the country’s communist elite rarely reach the public eye – so this is remarkable.
If the reason for Hu’s removal was,as has been suggested,that he was suddenly overcome by ill health,then why did the nation’s censors act so swiftly to erase any references to the former president’s unceremonious departure from the podium?
And,as Hu was clearly reluctant to vacate his front row seat,would it have not been better,certainly from a public relations point of view,to leave him in his seat until the proceedings had concluded?
This,after all,was supposed to be the crowning moment of Xi’s autocratic rule,as he prepares to achieve his long-held ambition of effectively becoming China’s president-for-life when he is officially appointed to serve another five-year term as the communist party’s general secretary. Was Hu against this? Was that why he was so publicly ejected? We may never know.
Xi’s inexorable rise to become his country’s all-powerful leader has not been without its detractors among China’s ruling elite. After the turmoil that followed the death of Mao Zedong,the communist regime’s founder,in 1976,constitutional measures were put in place – including a two-term limit for serving as president – to prevent any future incumbent repeating Mao’s authoritarian role. This arrangement,though,has been systematically eroded since Xi replaced Hu as Chinese leader in 2012,to the extent that,in 2018,the National People’s Congress,China’s so-called parliament,approved constitutional changes that removed the two-term presidential limit,thereby allowing Xi to remain in power for life,should he choose to.