Party leader Xi Jinping in his first appearance after being confirmed as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party for a third five-year term.
(Photo: AP)
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 disempowerment of more moderate politicians such as outgoing Prime Minister Li Keqiang and Vice Premiers Hu Chunhua and Wang Yang, who are considered Hu’s protégés.
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