BEIJING - The Communist Party of China (CPC) carried out minimal leadership reshuffling at a major four-day conclave that ended on Oct 23, underscoring President Xi Jinping’s firm grip on power despite a swirl of online speculation suggesting otherwise.
In a communique released after the meeting, known as the Fourth Plenum, the only notable personnel movement announced was the promotion of General Zhang Shengmin to become Mr Xi’s deputy at the Central Military Commission (CMC), the party’s top military command.
earlier in October.
Mr Xi chairs the commission as China’s de facto commander-in-chief.
The body began the current five-year term in 2022 with seven members, but its ranks have since shrunk to four after Mr Xi launched a sweeping
.
Apart from former vice-chair He, those removed included
and then Defence Minister Li Shangfu.
The plenum is an occasion when the party’s Central Committee, comprising about 200 voting members, can decide the composition of the CMC.
In principle, it could have promoted three new members to restore the body to full strength. Instead, it elevated Gen Zhang from CMC member to vice-chairman.
Gen Zhang will retain his portfolio overseeing the military’s disciplinary affairs. He is believed to have played a key role in the investigations that led to a purge of officers unprecedented in its scale.
According to the communique released on Oct 23, the Central Committee reviewed a report on how nine senior military officers had “violated laws and party discipline”.
“Seeing such an unprecedented number of names in one place really hits home how impactful Xi Jinping’s purge has been,” said Mr Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
“It is telling that Zhang Shengmin has been elevated within the Central Military Commission, but no one has been named to fill the vacant billets of the regular members. The undersized commission means that more power remains in Xi’s hands,” he added.
As is often the case before and during high-level party meetings where sensitive personnel decisions are made, the internet had buzzed with wild speculation about Mr Xi’s grip on power.
When the Defence Ministry announced on Oct 17 that the nine officers – including General He and Admiral Miao, both seen as close to Mr Xi – had been expelled, it further fuelled unfounded rumours of a political tussle attempt by Mr Xi’s other deputy, CMC vice-chairman Zhang Youxia.
These rumours were put to rest when, right on cue at 7pm, state television aired footage of Mr Xi presiding over the plenum and of all other leaders applauding him at the meeting’s close.
Mr Chen Daoyin, a former professor of Chinese politics and now an independent political commentator, noted that the absence of new faces in both the CMC and the Politburo – the party’s powerful body of nearly two dozen members – attested to Mr Xi’s dominance within the party.
“Any new entrant to these halls of power would spark speculation that he could be Xi’s successor. If Xi intends to stay on beyond this term, he would not want a new centre of power to form around anyone else,” Mr Chen said.
