The symbolic power of the scene was unsurpassed: China’s party leader Xi Jinping didn’t change a face when his predecessor Hu Jintao was clearly led out of the Great Hall of the People against his will at the end of the party congress of the Communist Party. At a meticulously orchestrated event like the party congress, this is tantamount to deliberately staged public humiliation. The signal that Xi is sending is unmistakable: L’Etat c’est moi. The reform era is over – the future belongs to the undisputed leader: Xi Jinping.
This does not bode well for the West – but also for China.
The unprecedented humiliation of Hu, which is only possible in a totalitarian dictatorship, goes hand in hand with the ousting of more moderate politicians such as former Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Vice Premiers Hu Chunhua and Wang Yang, who are considered Hu Jintao’s protégés.
Read on now
Get access to this and every other article in the
Web and in our app free of charge for 4 weeks.
Continue
Read on now
Get access to this and every other article in the
Web and in our app free of charge for 4 weeks.
Continue