China's Communist Party's top body has no women members for first time in 25 years

By Team Newsable | First Published Oct 23, 2022, 5:53 PM IST

Sun Chunlan, the only woman sitting on the previous Politburo, has retired, and no other women were appointed. President Xi Jinping stacked the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee with four allies, including two of his former secretaries.

The Chinese Communist Party's top body will have no full women members for the first time in 25 years, according to the new Politburo roster released Sunday. There were no additional women selected to the previous Politburo after Sun Chunlan, the lone woman member, resigned.

In a move that demonstrates his control and prioritises loyalty over all else, President Xi Jinping filled the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee with four cronies, including two of his former secretaries, observers said.

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Li Qiang, the current head of the Shanghai Party, who handled the city's brutal two-month Covid-19 lockdown earlier this year, will probably succeed Li Keqiang as premier when he retires in 2019. According to state media streaming from Beijing's Great Hall of the People, close aide Ding Xuexiang, Guangdong Party leader Li Xi, and Beijing Party boss Cai Qi were all included in the new roster.

Also Read | Xi Jinping in Mao Zedong's league after re-election as CPC General Secretary for record third five-year term

Alfed Wu Muluan, a Chinese politics scholar at the National University of Singapore, claimed that the demonstrations are "all Xi's people," indicating that he intends to continue in power even beyond a third term.

The leadership reshuffle comes shortly after the party concluded its twice-a-decade Congress, a major political event in which a new Central Committee of around 200 senior Party officials is installed, then elects higher layers of the top leadership.

Meanwhile, in his brief closing remarks at the 20th Congress on Saturday, Xi said that the revision of the Constitution sets out clear requirements for strengthening and upholding the party's overall leadership.

Also Read: China's Premier Li Keqiang among four of seven members dropped in leadership shuffle

'Dare to struggle, dare to win, bury your heads, and work hard. Be determined to keep forging ahead,' he was quoted as saying in the media, adding, 'We must be ready to withstand high winds, choppy waters and even dangerous storms.'

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