Chinese leaders jockey for power at secret meeting

August 6, 2016 6:14 am JST
Chinese leaders jockey for power at secret meeting

OKI NAGAI, Nikkei staff writer

A car leaves a retreat in Beidaihe reserved for senior party officials.

BEIJING -- Top Communist Party apparently kicked off their annual conclave at the popular seaside resort of Beidaihe, where they were expected to discuss a planned leadership change next year that has already begun making waves in Beijing.

Fifth-ranking party official and Politburo Standing Committee member Liu Yunshan met with scientists and other experts in the Hebei Province beach town, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday. Vice Premier Ma Kai and Zhao Leji, head of organization for the party's Central Committee, also showed. Many other party heavyweights were also said to be in the area.

Cars believed to be carrying high-ranking party and military figures were seen entering a retreat reserved for top leaders Friday. Traffic restrictions were imposed in Beidaihe toward the end of July, and political leaders began arriving Monday, a local source said. The area surrounding the retreat was under heavy security, including plainclothes police and a coast guard vessel off the beach.

Change is coming

The Communist Party reshuffles its leadership at a party congress held every five years. If all leaders 68 and older follow convention and retire in the autumn of 2017, five of the Politburo Standing Committee's seven members will need replacing. Discussion at Beidaihe could influence what happens at the next congress, greatly impacting President Xi Jinping's second term.

Dissatisfaction is growing within the party, and it is unclear whether Xi can make the political appointments he wants, a source close to core members said. Since becoming party leader in 2012, Xi has consolidated power into his own hands by purging officials with ties to former President Jiang Zemin. Xi had maintained a certain level of cooperation with those who have risen from the ranks of the Communist Youth League, including Premier Li Keqiang and former President Hu Jintao. But these relationships have also cooled amid a crackdown on other ex-leaguers.

Bubbling frustration

Many think Xi is going too far. The economic slowdown and an international arbitral tribunal's unfavorable ruling over maritime claims in the South China Sea have only inflamed critics, both within the Jiang faction and among former Youth League members.

Xi is responding by tightening the reins on the Communist Party. Its general office shocked many Tuesday with plans to strengthen party control over the Youth League in the name of greater unity. The overhaul also demands full commitment by the league to Xi's political views.

Perhaps the most unpopular part of the plan is a significant downsizing of the league bureaucracy. "This erodes the perk promised to Youth League officials of quick promotion through the ranks," a source familiar with the matter said.

OKI NAGAI, Nikkei staff writer

Many believe that the announcement, made just before the Beidaihe gathering, aimed to curb the influence of ex-leaguers.

The Politburo decided in late June on new rules for party discipline that hold officials responsible for being rejected by the people or damaging the party's political standing, giving Xi even more power for his anti-corruption campaign. Party members debate in hushed tones which major figure the president will target next.