By NOZOMU HAYASHI/ Correspondent
October 23, 2022 at 19:03 JST
New members of the Politburo Standing Committee, from left, Li Xi, Cai Qi, Zhao Leji, President Xi Jinping, Li Qiang, Wang Huning, and Ding Xuexiang are introduced at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Oct. 23. (AP Photo)
BEIJING--Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, once regarded as a future leader of China, failed to gain membership to the Poliburo at the Communist Party’s congress held here Oct. 23.
Many senior party officials close to Xi Jinping, the party’s general secretary, were named to the Politburo, a clear indication of Xi’s consolidation of power.
In total, 24 people became Politburo members, one fewer than when the last congress was held five years ago.
For the first time in 20 years, no woman made the grade.
Members of the Politburo are the most senior officials in the party’s hierarchy only next to the general secretary and Politburo Standing Committee lineup.
Xi’s preference was strongly reflected in the choice of members of the Politburo, not only in the selection of members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the party’s supreme decision-making body.
Hu had been tipped for greatness since he was a young man.
Hu headed the Communist Youth League, the party’s arm that nurtures elite officials, just like Hu Jintao, a former president of the country, or Premier Li Keqiang.
Some analysts had expected that Hu Chunhua would be chosen by the congress as a member of the Politburo Standing Committee and also premier.
The fact that Hu was removed even from the Politburo reflects the waning influence of the Youth League faction.
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