President Xi Jinping was formally handed a second term on Wednesday, with no clear successor emerging in a revamped ruling council, cementing his grip on power and setting the stage for him to dominate China for decades to come.
In a highly choreographed event, Mr Xi led the new members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee in front of television cameras at Beijing’s massive Great Hall of the People after their selection by 204 party officials in a closed-door vote.
Mr Xi, 64, secured a second five-year term as general secretary of the Communist Party after his political theory was enshrined in its constitution, giving him an inviolable mandate to rule and possibly positioning him to retain power for much longer. He was also reappointed head of the country’s Central Military Commission.
Premier Li Keqiang, 62, retained his seat on the seven-member committee while five other men — all little known outside China — replaced comrades who had reached an informal retirement age of 68.
In a speech, as the other members stood expressionless in dark suits, Mr Xi heralded a “new era” for the country under his rule and said the party “must get a new look and more importantly make new accomplishments.” But the new ruling council looked decidedly old, raising doubts that any could succeed Mr Xi.
“Xi Jinping doesn’t want to share power. He doesn’t want someone breathing down his neck, preparing the succession,” Jean-Pierre Cabestan, China specialist at Hong Kong Baptist University, said.
“He wants to keep pressure on everybody and enjoy power for five or 10 years without having his hands tied.”
All the committee’s members are at least 60 years of age. Under the current rules, they would be too old to serve the customary two terms as the party’s leader at the next congress in 2022.
Mr Xi was elevated to the committee in 2007, when he was 54, and succeeded Hu Jintao as general secretary and President five years later.
The new committee members are Mr Xi’s confidant Li Zhanshu, 67, vice-premier Wang Yang, 62, leading Communist Party theoretician Wang Huning, 62, party organisation department head Zhao Leji, 60, and Shanghai party chief Han Zheng, 63.
No women made it onto the elite Politburo Standing Committee. Only one of its 25 members is a woman
TRUMP CALL
President Donald Trump spoke to Mr Xi, the White House said after the Chinese leader solidified his grip on power at the Communist Party Congress. A senior administration official said the pair had spoken by telephone after Mr Xi was formally handed a second term.
PRESS BARRED
Mr Xi encouraged members of the press “to visit and see more of China” when he unveiled his new leadership but five Western media outlets were excluded from the event.
Journalists bearing a deep red invitation, with “The Great Hall of the People” emblazoned in golden script, arrived to watch Mr Xi formally begin his second term and introduce his ruling council.
But reporters from the New York Times, the Economist, the Financial Times, the Guardian and the BBC were not invited, unable to listen in person to Mr Xi’s pledge to “welcome objective reporting” and “constructive suggestions”.
