Posted on 10/24/2022 11:01:42 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
An extraordinary thing happened in China at the final meeting of the party congress over the weekend. Hu Jintao, the previous president of China, was sitting next to President Xi Jinping when two men approached from the rear. Hu rose and appeared increasingly surprised and then alarmed. A few others sitting at the lead table also appeared openly surprised, while most seemed unconcerned or were blank-faced out of discipline. Hu was escorted behind Xi, who appeared as if nothing significant was happening. It seemed to me that Xi did finally glance at him, I think with a look of contempt, but that is likely not the case, as the point of this drama seemed to be that dismissing Hu was routine. Although videos of Hu’s departure could be viewed around the world, they did not appear in China. The Chinese now have said, however, that Hu was not feeling well.
This is not the way party congresses have typically been covered in China. In the past, they were a carefully framed portrayal of the absolute unity of the Chinese Communist Party. Every public element was controlled, with no spontaneity permitted, let alone drama of this sort.
Hu may have had to go to the bathroom and needed help, or it may have been some other prosaic event. But I doubt that would require a national blackout. It is always difficult to interpret actions involving individuals. My view of the world is that individuals are defined by the world, not the other way around. So let me take a shot at seeing how China created the television drama we all saw.
The economic crisis of the past two years had to have created political divisions. After Mao, China was defined by consistent and massive growth. There was an expectation in China, shared by much of the world, that the Chinese economic miracle would continue for a long time, making China a great power.
A second problem was the South China Sea and the inability of the Chinese military to break out of America’s effective blockade. There was much talk in China and elsewhere about the surging power of China’s military and particularly its navy, but there were no actions taken that demonstrated that power. The alliance with Russia proved another serious misjudgment.
Xi came to power at the height of the Chinese growth surge. He also came to power on what appeared to be the dawning of Chinese military power. In all of this, he was attempting to surpass his predecessor, Hu Jintao. Hu had built the economy and the military and had made China into an economic presence. Xi was going to make China an economic, military and global force. It didn’t happen. During Xi’s most recent term, all of these hopes seemed to shatter.
Hu was a symbol of what China was going to become. Xi is the symbol of what China did not become. Hu, as a former successful leader of China, hovered over him, and every time Hu spoke, Xi felt the tremors. I don’t know what went on in the Chinese Politburo. Hu may have criticized Xi, as a president who succeeded when success was easy. Xi may have rejected what was said, claiming that success had become more difficult to achieve and that Hu, in his place, would do very poorly indeed. Or perhaps no words had to be exchanged, because Xi understood that he was being measured against Hu. Perhaps Hu was organizing a coup or allowing himself to become the coup’s symbol, and Xi felt he had to contain him with a very public act so that the country knew where power lay. And more important, maybe Xi wanted to frighten any enemies from acting, by showing them what could happen.
It’s hard to understand precisely what happened, but it’s easy to understand what brought us to this place. This is politics, and failure, no matter how good the excuse, is unforgiving. Xi chose to act where success would redeem him. Of course, it is possible that a battle is now raging in secret over Xi’s action. He acted, it seems, without the senior staff being told. If so, they may fear for themselves next and move on Xi. But then Xi may have anticipated this. And so the murky world of Chinese politics has yielded us a coup against a retired president. It was the act of a worried man. He will be worried until the next act.
Nothing , same as always it’s just for Show
“The Chinese now have said, however, that Hu was not feeling well.”
You wouldn’t feel well too if you thought you were about to exiled or shot.
Wow, I thought I reading a recounting of 1/7/21. Remember when Pence, McConnell and McCarthy approached the alarmed “what America was to be” guy from behind and escorted him from the national scene?
It is interesting to the West to see in real-time someone becoming an “Unperson”.
To be fair, we have it here in the USA, the mechanism is just a little bit different is all.
And we are closer to doing it the way they do. Up front. On television. In the open. With everyone else present pretending it isn’t happening, and understanding the rule that the “unpersoned” person can no longer be mentioned in public or private at the risk of being “Unpersoned” yourself.
If Stalin had been alive while Khrushchev ruled the USSR, Nikita would have done the same thing.
(P.S. During the recent MLB playoffs the announcer referred to the pitcher Shane Bieber as “Justin Bieber” which quickly went viral. It didn’t bother me, I’ve referred to the Lightning hockey forward Nikita Kucherov as Nikita Khrushchev more than once.)
Two ends of the spectrum of comments on this event
1) Out of respect for Hu’s former status, and Xi’s desire for party unity, Xi invited Hu to sit next to him at this final ceremony of the 20th party congress, in spite of Hu’s frail health and state of mind. Hu had a health incident (or he shat himself) and sadly, the confused old Hu needed to be helped out of the ceremony
2) As Politburo appointments showed, Xi has top-to-bottom control of the Government and can now be Emporer for life. Xi’s conflict with the “Communist Youth League” group (or Shanghai clique, its often called) is finally over and he has crushed them. Displaying to any potential rivals (and also to foreigners) the decrepit Hu being purposely brought to the ceremony - and then being unceremoniously removed, is a public display pointing out conflict/debate is over - and Xi Jinping has won. Don’t bet on these old fools, and don’t mess with Xi
The reports that Xi might have been subject to a coup might have actually been a clever ploy by Xi. He could have gathered intelligence on who (Hu?) was happy about a potential coup and is beginning the process of rounding them up or putting the fear of Xi into them.
Hu, we never knew you...
He did put me in mind of Joe Biden being carefully ushered off the stage - "No, Mr. President, the exit is that way."
Reminds me of pictures I’ve seen of Stalin and Sadam Hussein where politicians were led out of a meeting directly to a place of execution. I continue watching the Jan 6 proceedings and expecting someone being led to an unknown place. Steve Banion had better watch his back. And forget about getting justice for murdered Ashley Babbit.
Hu? Never heard of him.
Kind of like that scene in the “Left Behind” movie?
The Author is going out of his way to downplay Xi’s public humiliation of his predecessor.
>>sadly, the confused old Hu needed to be helped out of the ceremony<<
He’ll be alright.
They will gently lead him to a place facing a stack of sandbags, offer him an expensive American cigarette and cheap blindfold, and gently shoot him in the back of his head. Hurrah for socialism.
Just Twitter being Twitter.
It is disturbing to watch that video from China.
The old Communist is confused, and looks like he his pleading with Xi who pointedly ignores him, so that guy probably knew his fate was sealed.
I find it hard to muster too much sympathy for the old guy, since he was likely a party member his whole life and likely had the toe of his pointed shoe on the testicle of some dissident at some point, but all Leftists should know, sooner or later the tyranny they espouse will come to take their freedoms and their lives someday.
However, it is a given that they will refuse to believe it until they are dragged away by the people they supported as they scream out in confusion “Why are you doing this to me? I am one of you!”
Or as many people believe Xi is purging the CCP from Chinese politics.
Tessio: Tom, can you get me off the hook, for old times sakes?
Tom: Sorry, can’t do it Sally.
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