Japanese media reports analysis of trends within the Chinese leadership
Analysis has shown that the influence of Tsai Chi, standing member of the Communist Party’s Politburo and secretary of the Central Secretariat, who is ranked 5th in the hierarchy of power in China, has strengthened and exceeded that of Prime Minister Li Qiang, who is ranked 2nd in power. There was even an analysis that the power hierarchy among the seven members of China’s top leadership was broken.
On the 25th, the Japanese business magazine ‘Gendai Business’ analyzed the latest trends within the Chinese leadership and reported this.
The nominal hierarchy of the seven-member Standing Committee is President Xi Jinping (who also serves as Party General Secretary and Chairman of the Central Military Commission), Premier Li Chang, National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee Chairman Zhao Leji, National People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Chairman Wang Huning, and Cai Qi. They are, in that order, Secretary of the Central Secretariat, Ding Xuesang, Vice Premier of the State Council, and Secretary of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission Li Shi.
Secretary Tsai also serves as director of the Party’s Central Office, effectively equivalent to Xi Jinping’s chief of staff, and his power is assessed to be enormous.
Meanwhile, Gendai Business assessed that although Chai Chi is nominally ranked 5th, in reality, she exercises more real power than Li Chang, who is ranked 2nd.
The media presented the reason for Prime Minister Li’s absence from the special symposium on finance held at the Central Party School, the administrative academy of the Communist Party of China, on the 16th, and that Secretary Tsai chaired the meeting.
The Secretary of the Central Secretariat oversees the United Front Department, Organization Department, and Propaganda Department and can be considered the head of ‘security’. On the other hand, the Prime Minister can be said to be the head of the economy.
At the time, Prime Minister Lee was on a business trip abroad to attend the Davos Forum in Switzerland, but it is considered unusual for the head of security to replace the role of head of economy.
In addition, as it was an important finance-related meeting, there was a possibility of adjusting the schedule, but the fact that China pushed ahead with it also attracted attention.
In addition, Secretary Tsai gave a speech on behalf of the leadership at the closing ceremony of the symposium held on the 19th, but Prime Minister Li had returned to Korea at the time.
Gendai Business also reported that the power of the ‘Fujian Province Line’ (Xi Jinping’s former subordinate when he worked in Fujian Province), represented by Secretary Tsai, may have surpassed the ‘Zhejiang Province Line’ (a close associate of Xi Jinping when he worked in Zhejiang Province) led by Premier Li. The possibility was also raised.
However, some analyzes suggest that the nominal hierarchy of power within the leadership is meaningless as President Xi wields omnipotent power.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.