When the former Communist leader was escorted out of the party congress, speculations of a ‘purge’ quickly arose
By Timur Fomenko, a political analyst
During the 20th national party congress of the Communist Party of China, a media speculation storm ensued over a brief scene whereby the country’s former leader, Hu Jintao (2002-2012), appeared to be removed from the podium, having been seated next to Xi Jinping. It is not quite clear why he was escorted out of the congress, and no comment was ever made, although not surprisingly coverage started to aggressively speculate that Hu had in fact been ‘purged’, deliberately drawing contrast with his more collective form of leadership compared to Xi’s ‘one-man’ centralization.
The idea that a former national leader, now 79 years of age, was publicly ‘purged’ on live television footage of an ultra-important political event, is nothing short of ridiculous. Yet, this is where we are today…
