:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/2G7NQEXC5NAX7DJGWQEBE5QEBM.png)
A new recording reveals more details of what happened moments before the former leader of China Hu Jintao was ostentatiously removed from a session of the Chinese Communist Party Congress last week in Beijing.
LOOK: Why Xi Jinping will be more powerful than ever in this new mandate
The footage shows the moment when outgoing Politburo member Li Zhanshu, sitting to Hu’s left, takes a document from him and says something to him.
Later, China’s current leader, Xi Jinping, gives lengthy instructions to another man, who subsequently tries to persuade Hu to step down.
The unexpected moment sparked intense speculation: some argued it was a deliberate power play by Xi to show that Hu’s era of consensus was finally over; Others suggested that Hu’s poor health had been the cause for the former president’s removal.
Many wondered if this was deliberate political play.
The official news agency Xinhua later reported on Twitter that Hu was escorted out of the compound after feeling unwell, but this announcement was not made locally, as the platform is blocked for users in China.
The incident occurred the day before Xi announced his third term and the main team of officials that will accompany him.
Unlike Hu’s presidency (2003-2013), seen as a moment of Chinese openness to the outside world, Xi has presided over an increasingly isolated country.
the new images
The new footage, captured by Singapore-based Channel News Asia, does not debunk the official version that Hu had been ill, but it does suggest that the way the former president handled the document in front of him played a role in the attack. incident.
To add to the intrigue, Li Zhanshu seemed about to get up to help Hu, but Wang Huning apparently led him back to his seat.
Hu said something to an impassive Xi as he was escorted away, and none of the other men sitting in line turned around as he was led out.
Deng Yuwen, former editor of the Communist Party newspaper, Study Timessays there is no reason the party would have put a document in front of Hu that he should not read, especially since cameras were rolling during such a high-profile meeting.
“Obviously, it was an unusual situation,” he says. “No one can explain what happened until they have more information about the content of the document, or what was said there.”
Wen-ti Sung, a professor at the Australian National University, says the new images remain inconclusive.
“In China, everything is about order, especially in high-profile events like this, and especially in the Xi era, where everything is about control,” he says.
“So a Hu potentially spiraling out of control and this sudden – admittedly strange – withdrawal justify a lot of the rumours. But That’s not to say that the rumors or speculation about a purge are necessarily true.“.
But Deng says the sight of other top party officials, including Hu’s former second-in-command Wen Jiabao, looking straight ahead as Hu walked behind them under escort says something about Xi’s China.
If in fact the drama was spontaneous and motivated by concern for Hu’s well-being, Xi’s appointments the following day highlighted the symbolism of the former leader’s hasty exit: there will be no return to the policies of the Hu Jintao era.
Source: Elcomercio
I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.
