Hu Chunhua Didn’t Make It to The Standing Committee; Is This Why Hu Jintao Was Forcibly Removed?

Hu Chunhua wasn't among the 24 members of the Politburo elected by the first plenary session of the 20th CCP Central Committee on October 23rd. When the seven Politburo Standing Committee members met with reporters after the session, he was nowhere to be seen. That is to say, Hu didn't make it to China's top brass of political power. Hu Jintao, the former CCP leader, was forcibly removed from the closing session of the 20th Some scholars believe that the reason may be related to Hu Chunhua being completely out of the power circle. The number of Politburo members has been reduced from 25 to 24. On October 23rd, the first plenary session of the 20th CCP Central Committee voted for several important government organs such as the Politburo and Central Military Commission. Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CCP, was re-elected for a third term and took full control of the Standing Committee of the Politburo. Xi was also re-elected for a third term as chairman of the CCP Central Military Commission, continuing to control the military. Just now, the 20th CPC Central Committee held its first plenary session and elected the new central leadership. I was re-elected as the General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee. According to the communique of the plenary session, there were 24 new members of the Politburo of the 20th CCP Central Committee, one less than in recent years. Hu Chunhua is out of the power circle. On October 23rd, Xi Jinping led the new Politburo Standing Committee to meet with reporters. Hu Chunhua, the once prominent political star and current Vice Premier of the State Council, was once groomed by Hu Jintao as his successor. Not only did he fail to join the Standing Committee of the Politburo, but was out of the Politburo itself. It means he is completely out of the power circle and will step down from his post as Vice Premier of the State Council next year. Xi Jinping has managed to assert his power further than most observers had expected. Most observers had expected that Hu Jintao's action will achieve some kind of influence within the Standing Committee. It's not the case. It's totally dominated by Xi Jinping's people. So the six other members of the Standing Committee are all very loyal to Xi Jinping. They work with him. They were promoted by him. And so the other faction have been sidelined or even completely eliminated from the leadership. Hu Jintao being escorted out of the podium may be related to Hu Chunhua. At the closing session of the 20th National Congress of the CCP, a surprising incident happened. Former General Secretary Hu Jintao was escorted out of the meeting at around 11am, after the election of members of the CCP Central Committee and before the vote on three resolutions of the Congress. On October 23rd, Free Asia reported that a professor at the University of Technology Sydney believed that Hu Jintao found out that Hu Chunhua was not on the Politburo list and got angry, which led to his removal from the meeting. A Chinese political scientist said that Hu Chunhua's inability to stay in the Politburo is a symbol of the end of the reform and opening up line. Like Li Keqiang and Wang An, Hu Chunhua as a representative of the reform and opening up line also needs to exit the stage. It's believed that Hu Jintao's leaving before the closing of the 20th National Congress accelerated the end of Hu Chunhua's political career, which is also the reason why the new Politburo has one less member than the previous years.