Xi Jinping has zombified the Chinese Communist party

In the run up to China’s National Party Congress, there were whispers that a high level official in state security had been wiretapping the President. After all, why else would Sun Lijun, previously the vice-minister of public security, have been sentenced to death for taking bribes that others got much lighter sentences for? 

But if Sun was wiretapping Xi Jinping, who was behind him? Wishful speculation abounded, often from overseas observers. Had Xi pushed the country too far with his zero Covid policy? Are there secret daggers drawn from rivals who lament the days of double-digit growth?

But with the Party Congress now finished, it’s clear that Xi no longer needs to worry about organised opposition to him, if indeed he ever faced any. The new Politburo Standing Committee – the seven-member inner cabinet of Chinese politics – has been packed with Xi acolytes. All norms have been thrown out the window in this reshuffle, whether that be retirement for those 68 and over, or at least one woman on the Politburo. Not to mention, of course, that ten-year term limit for the top leader, now merely a historical footnote. Former Central Party School professor Cai Xia had previously dubbed the Chinese Communist party under Xi a ‘political zombie’. Well, zombification is now complete.

The President’s new men are all trusted lieutenants from Xi’s previous posts. In a one-party system, ideological differences matter less for building factions than loyalty and a history of working together. Shanghai party secretary Li Qiang, expected to become China’s premier in March, had worked for Xi when Xi was governor of Zhejiang. Shanghai’s prolonged struggle with coronavirus earlier this year would have dented the prospects of a lesser man, but Li’s boneheaded dedication to the inhumane lockdown may even have helped his chances in Xi’s eyes. 

In the past, Li has been known for being pro-reform and pro-market, saying in 2015 that he believes in ‘three hands’. ‘The visible hand of the state, the invisible hand of the market, and the last is the hand of society governing itself. This is very important – government cannot become unlimited’, he told the Chinese outlet Caixin. But Li’s belief in the market didn’t stop him from choking off China’s economic hub for much of this year.

Not that this new Standing Committee will matter much. Under Xi’s predecessors, the CCP matured to a stage where collective leadership among the cabinet was the norm. But this new cohort is unlikely to have much independence (of thought or action), bringing to mind the Splitting Image sketch about Margaret Thatcher’s cabinet (‘And what about the vegetables?’) Post-congress People’s Daily front pages no longer feature the standing committee men prominently, with Xi taking centre stage.

At the same time, Xi’s rivals have been sidelined. Li Keqiang, for example, will not only step down from his role as premier, he has also been removed from the 205-strong Central Committee from which the Politburo is chosen. Li had let it be known that he was concerned about the economy being sacrificed in the name of zero Covid. His ally Wang Yang, the relatively liberal former governor of Guangzhou, was also removed from the Central Committee. By convention, both men should have been able to stay, given they are under the retirement age of 68. These personnel changes, as well as reshuffles in other economic remits, have spooked the markets. Today the yuan is at a 14-year low and the Hang Seng index of Hong Kong is seeing its worst day since the financial crisis.

Investors are expecting much more of the same when it comes to Xi’s agenda, and they’d be right. Zero Covid was lauded as a righteous ‘people’s war’ by Xi in his speech opening the Congress. Common prosperity, that vague mission for a more egalitarian society (which has so far simply meant giant fines on China’s most lucrative companies), has been written into the party constitution. On Taiwan, the rhetoric was more belligerent than usual as Xi refused to rule out the use of force. There’s a sense of historical mission to the man. He talks of preparing China and the party for ‘changes unseen in a century’ – a moment when he hopes that China can finally achieve ‘rejuvenation’. It goes without saying that he sees himself as vital to making this happen.

At no point was Xi’s complete control of the party more clear than when his predecessor, Hu Jintao, was escorted out of the Great Hall of the People. In an incredible episode captured on camera on Saturday, the 79-year old former president was lifted out of his chair and shuffled out past his erstwhile colleagues. Some pictures taken in the moments before show Hu trying to open a folder in front of him and Li Zhanshu, to Hu’s left, refuses to let him. This seems to trigger Xi asking a staffer to remove Hu.

Former president Hu Jintao manhandled out of the party Congress, as his protégés Li Keqiang and Wang Yang vacate the standing committee https://t.co/Uc1JWAfqrj

— Cindy Yu (@CindyXiaodanYu) October 22, 2022

It may really have been a health-related episode (Hu was visibly confused and frail) as state media says, or a deliberately choreographed flex by Xi as others speculate, or somewhere in the middle. What’s clear, though, is that Hu did not want to be removed. The former powerbroker was publicly humiliated, his senility and powerlessness on full show, on the day that Li Keqiang and Hu’s other protégés were demoted. The party doesn’t belong to them anymore. Xi Jinping is China’s sole and absolute leader now.