In China, a remarkable scene occurs at the important congress of the state party. During the closing session, former President Hu is led off the stage against his will. Meanwhile, Congress is cementing the power of current President Xi.
At the end of the Chinese Communist Party Congress, an incident involving former party leader Hu Jintao broke out. The 79-year-old was led off the podium by two room stewards, apparently against his will, next to head of state and party leader Xi Jinping, as can be seen on video recordings. During the closing session, international cameramen and journalists had just been let into the grandstand in the Great Hall of the People. The frail-looking Hu Jintao is not necessarily seen as a supporter of the current party leader. He belongs to the Communist Youth League camp in the party, which was weakened by Xi Jinping.
The former president handed over the post of secretary-general to Xi Jinping in 2012 after two terms. Hu Jintao stands for the old "collective" leadership model with representatives from different factions and with age and term limits, which the 69-year-old Xi Jinping wants to overturn with his third term. It is unclear whether the Hu incident was staged or spontaneous. The unusual move came just before the constitutional amendment votes, which further enshrined Xi Jinping's guiding principles and leadership.
Around 2,300 delegates accepted the amendments at the end of the week-long party conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The decision said that with Xi Jinping as the "core of the Central Committee" and through his theories, the party was able to overcome the country's contradictions and problems. The Party and China are facing a complex situation and severe challenges unparalleled in the world.
Congress further resolved to strengthen the military and build it into "world-class armed forces". The independence forces in Taiwan should also be fought decisively, it said. The Chinese leadership regards the democratic island republic as part of the People's Republic and threatens to conquer it. Taiwan, on the other hand, has long considered itself independent.
