Former president and former general secretary Hu Jintao unexpectedly found himself in the spotlight at the Chinese Communist Party Congress on Saturday. In the middle of the closing ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the 79-year-old was led out, apparently against his will. There is speculation that it could be for health reasons, but no explanation was immediately given.
– There are remarkable television images that lead to speculation. I cannot say today what it might be due to, but it is clear that there is symbolism in the fact that Xi Jinping’s representative as general secretary was apparently led away at the same time as his power was cemented, says Björn Jerdén, program manager for the Foreign Policy Institute’s China Center, to TT.
The Communist Party’s congress takes place every five years, and must determine how the dictatorship is governed in the coming period. According to tightly controlled state media, a new central committee was elected on Saturday morning. It consists of about 205 people and in turn elects a politburo of about 20 people, of which the seven-person standing committee has the ultimate power.
Watch as the former president is led out of Congress, in the player above