Xi Jinping bestrides the seven-strong politburo, but there are six other people – all men – who will sit in power with him over the next five years. They are profiled below.
Wang Huning, China’s Kissinger
Already firmly within Xi’s inner circle, Wang Huning is the president’s top foreign policy adviser and frequently travels overseas with China’s leader. A former scholar known for his theories on ‘neo-authoritarianism’ , Wang, 62, was an adviser to Xi’s two predecessors and has reputedly been influential in shaping Xi’s political thoughts.
Like Xi, a centraliser who has turned away from the kind of collective leadership introduced after Mao Zedong’s death, Wang advocates strong central leadership and is known for his hostility to high-level corruption.
Li Zhanshu, The Whip
A longtime friend of Xi and his current chief of staff, Li Zhanshu has become a powerful advocate for the president and his policies. Li, 67, was instrumental last year in Xi’s anointment as China’s “core” leader and reportedly also played a key role in having Xi Jinping Thought added to the party charter this week, an honour which places him in the same league as Mao.
Li has taken on roles beyond the traditional remit of his office, meeting with Vladimir Putin ahead of a state visit in 2015 and heading up poverty alleviation work, one of Xi’s signature domestic policies.
Li Keqiang, The odd bedfellow
As premier, Li Keqiang is officially China’s second most powerful politician, but his role has been considerably downgraded under Xi. Li, 62, is seen as an ally of former president Hu Jintao, and Xi has worked to limit his influence since taking power in 2012.
Li bore the brunt of the blame for China’s 2015 stock market meltdown and subsequently saw much of his power ebb away. There had even been persistent rumors Li would demoted, unheard of in the modern era of Chinese politics, although those faded in recent months.
Wang Yang, The Negotiator
Wang Yang, 62, is China’s top trade negotiator, frequently going toe to toe with US officials in talks. He previously ran the economic powerhouse of Guangdong province and came up through the Communist Youth League, a faction within the government that has been greatly weakened since Xi came to power.
He has been a champion of private enterprise and even nominally tolerated civil society. As a result, he is seen as a relatively liberal, reform-minded politician albeit in the context of an authoritarian political system which values social stability above all else.
During the 2008 financial crisis, Wang declined to intervene to prevent a wave of bankruptcies, preferring to let the market pick winners and losers.
Han Zheng, The Technocrat
Han Zheng, 63, has spent his entire career in Shanghai and was Xi’s deputy during his brief stint there as party chief in 2007. Han worked to transform the city into a international financial hub and most recently oversaw the establishment of a free trade zone, with mixed results.
His background as a seasoned economic technocrat will be vital as growth continues to slow and the government works to fix long-simmering problems. He favors market policies over central planning and could emerge as a top economic decision maker in the coming years.
Zhao Leji, The Kingmaker
Zhao Leji, 60, headed the party’s powerful and mysterious Organisation Department, overseeing the appointment of all officials across China. He missed out on a seat on the standing committee at the last congress, in 2012, after the number of members was cut from nine to seven. But on Tuesday he was unveiled as the powerful new head of China’s anti-corruption watchdog.
Until 2007, Zhao ran the sparsely populated Qinghai province, home to a large Tibetan minority, and manged to double economic output in his seven years in the post. His father was friends with Xi’s father and Zhao is seen as a leader of one of the two rising political factions.
No comments:
Post a Comment