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New Chinese leadership line-up meant to allay concerns of Xi becoming too powerful: Experts

BEIJING — The inclusion in the new Politburo Standing Committee of individuals from factions associated with President Xi Jinping’s predecessors, Mr Hu Jintao and Mr Jiang Zemin, points to the Communist Party’s efforts to assuage concerns that Mr Xi has been centralising too much authority, analysts said.

China's President Xi Jinping (centre) and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee: (from left) Mr Wang Huning, Mr Li Zhanshu, Mr Han Zheng, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Zhao Leji. Photo: Reuters

China's President Xi Jinping (centre) and other members of the Politburo Standing Committee: (from left) Mr Wang Huning, Mr Li Zhanshu, Mr Han Zheng, Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, Zhao Leji. Photo: Reuters

BEIJING — The inclusion in the new Politburo Standing Committee of individuals from factions associated with President Xi Jinping’s predecessors, Mr Hu Jintao and Mr Jiang Zemin, points to the Communist Party’s efforts to assuage concerns that Mr Xi has been centralising too much authority, analysts said.

The five new members of the committee are Mr Li Zhanshu, Mr Han Zheng, Mr Wang Yang, Mr Wang Huning, and Mr Zhao Leji. Only Mr Zhao and Mr Li are seen to be the president’s proteges.

Mr Damien Ma, fellow and associate director at American think tank the Paulson Institute, said the outcome may not have been entirely what Mr Xi wanted, but that he had to balance things out.

“I do think that Xi made more of a power play to get his thought into the party charter – and also OBOR (One Belt, One Road) and being the ‘core’ – and didn’t necessarily spend all his political capital to elevate everyone he wanted,” Mr Ma said.

Dr Dali Yang, a China politics analyst at the University of Chicago, said that the new appointments “signal balance and offers some relief to those who thought Xi will seek to place just his own loyal followers in key positions”.

“Instead, this suggests that the different factions are united in facing the future.”

While Dr Cheng Li, an expert in elite Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution, noted that the new Standing Committee is “more like a team of rivals,” it will however be “well-received by the political establishment because it’s a sign that the members come from various representations”.

At the same time, observers note, none of the new members of the top ruling body appeared to be suitable successors to Mr Xi as party leader. In contrast, before Mr Xi took power in 2012, he had been in the Standing Committee for five years and his predecessor, Mr Hu, had a seat on the body for 10 years before becoming party leader.

Dr Joseph Fewsmith, an expert on Chinese politics at Boston University, said the absence of an obvious successor pointed to Mr Xi’s longer-term ambitions.

“It suggests that Xi will likely serve a third term, and that he is likely to name his own successor. We have not seen that for two decades,” Dr Fewsmith noted.

Under recent party precedent, Communist Party leaders have served just two five-year terms.

Some analysts speculated that Mr Xi had successfully avoided being undermined by an anointed successor – and possibly paved the way for him to extend his rule as party leader beyond his second term.

“A successor in the shadow of a powerful leader can be a dangerous position to be in,” said Dr Yang. “With the current setup, it doesn’t rule out Xi’s retirement in five years, though it does provide more room for him to continue.”

Other China watchers saw the absence of a successor as a compromise made by Mr Xi, who has been seen as favoring Chongqing party secretary Chen Min’er – an official who would have had to break party norms on promotions in order to gain a place on the Standing Committee.

“Chen Min’er is such a clear protege of Xi Jinping,” said Dr Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London. “This shows that what remains of the resistance (to Xi) is still able to exercise some element of horse-trading constraint on Xi Jinping.”

By discarding the unspoken conventions that have ensured relatively stable leadership changes, however, Mr Xi has pushed Chinese politics into new territory that critics have warned could lead to turmoil, or a return to Mao Zedong -style despotism.

“If Xi goes for broke and breaks precedent by not preparing for an orderly and peaceful succession, he is putting a target on his back and risking a backlash from other ambitious politicians,” Dr Susan L. Shirk, the chair of the 21st Century China Center at the University of California, San Diego.

By taking such a risk, he shows himself to be more like Mao than we originally thought — he demonstrates his power by overturning institutions,” said Dr Shirk, a former State Department deputy assistant secretary for China policy. AGENCIES

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