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This is the strong image of the 20e Chinese Communist Party Congress : the sudden evacuation from the platform, Friday, October 22, of the former leader Hu Jintaoin chilling silence.
It is usually a ceremony orchestrated to the millimeter. In the huge People’s Hall in Beijing (China), the 2,300 Communist Party delegates are gathered around Xi Jinping, the president whose central role they must endorse. There is no room for improvisation, and yet. As the press begins filming ahead of the vote, a man grabs former President Hu Jintao by the arm, seated next to his successor, Xi Jinping. The man tries to lift him, but Hu Jintao seems reluctant. He tries to grab documents, which Xi Jinping withholds.
He remains seated for a long time, staring into space. And finally agrees to get up, still escorted. He addresses two words to the Chinese number one, who answers him without looking at him. The scene takes place in front of an impassive audience. What happened ? Not a word in the evening on national television. And finally faced with the rumours, a press release is issued. Hu Jintao would therefore be sick, at 79 years old. But isn’t it rather the humiliating exfiltration of a former reformist president and a message of firmness? Regardless of the empty chair to his left, Xi Jinping should unsurprisingly be reappointed Sunday, October 23 at the head of the Communist Party, without discussion.