Former President Hu Jintao is staying away from the Chinese Party Congress, but why?

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  shord den daas

  China reporter

On the closing day of the Party Congress in China, the focus is mainly on Party leader and former President Hu Jintao. He was taken away for unknown reasons, and could be seen in rare photos from the Great Hall of the People. Before the final vote and the closing speech of the Party Chairman, Xi Jinping, he seemed compelled to leave the hall.

The photos, filmed by Agence France-Presse, among others, show how a host tried to pull Hu Jintao from his chair several times. It seems that the 79-year-old former party chief did not want to cooperate at first. Once on board, he seems determined to sit down again, after which he is hesitatingly turned away.

He says something to his successor, Xi Jinping, who can finish his third term tomorrow. Outgoing Prime Minister Li Keqiang, who no longer has a role in the new Standing Committee, received an upbringing from Hu Jintao. But little is known about the reasons for his apparently involuntary departure from the Great Hall.

State propaganda channel CGTN, live all morning with “special coverage” about the 20th Party Congress, is muted in all tones. “We are taking you to the Great Hall of the People for the closing ceremony,” exclaimed a presenter at the beginning of the broadcast, but the director did not move on to the most important political event in China today.

It will happen then. But even in the ‘Delegates’ Corridor’, where Congress delegates are allowed to answer predetermined questions from state media with speeches about Xi Jinping’s decade-long successes, there is no focus on this congress’s most notable incident. Nor is there anything to be found about Hu Jintao on social media, which is heavily censored.

Outside of China, the rumor mill is now running at full speed. Is he, whose health has been deteriorating for so long, is in danger of becoming unwell, or is there more to it? If he thinks he can still sit, why should he remove it? A show of force from Shi, who would get his third term tomorrow, was rumored as a possible cause. But the question is, what will he gain from this? Hu Jintao’s role ended for a while.

Wilder speculated that Hu was effectively opposing Shi’s path. Shortly before the incident, a behind-closed-doors vote was held on a new Central Committee. Several members of Hu’s faction, the Communist Youth League faction, retired. In addition to Li Keqiang, it is also related to Vice Premier Wang Yang.

In any case, the fact that the incident occurred after a few foreign journalists entered the balcony of the Great Hall of the People (shortly after the vote) raises speculation that they wanted to show it. Why, still guesswork.

The truth was, things had become more mysterious under Xi Jinping than they had been before. For example, it was not clear what time the closing ceremony would take place, and agendas and work reports were constantly shared of late, if at all. The only fist left, while maintaining the agenda of the previous caucuses, no longer provided guarantees in the era of Xi Jinping.

According to the authorities, the number of journalists has been reduced this time “as a precautionary measure for the epidemic.” From opening to closing, the moment the six most powerful men in China will emerge tomorrow from behind the curtain along with Xi, it was a moment to glimpse the mores of the party. Xi Jinping himself decides who is invited to this party.

Dutch media, including NOS, were not among the shortlisted this year for reasons that are unclear. The ability to submit interview requests online to individual delegates and delegates has not worked, which is an innovation. None of the requests were fulfilled. Whoever entered Xi Jinping’s name into the system saw the characters disappear just as quickly.

Press accreditation this week only allowed access to the media center, miles from where this was supposed to happen. State media and journalists from friendly countries were allowed to ask pre-agreed questions via a screen at tightly directed press conferences. Journalists from Syria, Costa Rica and various African countries, among others, had to give a foreign touch to the party congress.

The media center was placed in quarantine a few days before the closing ceremony. The authorities didn’t seem to care that getting to the stage in the Great Hall of the People became more complicated. Speculation will continue over the incident involving the former Chinese leader. The only thing certain on the last day of this party congress is that there is currently no one who can stand in Xi’s way.

Who is Xi, how did he become so powerful and what does he want with China? You can see it in this video: