RED LANTERNS Communist youth, the first ‘internal’ victim of Xi Jinping’s absolute power

The League, considered the “Party’s reserve”, was excluded from the top of the regime for the first time since 1978. Speculation continues about the withdrawal of former President Hu Jintao from the box of authorities of the XX Congress. Sooner or later a new opposition to Xi will emerge.

Beijing () – The Young Communist League is the first “internal” victim of Xi Jinping’s absolute power. At the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China, which ended on October 22, the general secretary (and head of state) obtained a third term in power that projects him as the most powerful leader after Mao Zedong.

Since taking office in 2013, Xi has systematically sought to weaken the League, a powerful party faction linked to his predecessor Hu Jintao and outgoing Premier Li Keqiang. To do this he used first his popular anti-corruption campaign (a purge, according to many observers) and now the political marginalization of the group.

The numbers describe the decline of the League in the Xi era. Between 2012 and 2021, affiliates went from about 90 to 74 million. In the same period, its budget fell from 700 to 260 million yuan (from 96 to 36 million euros).

The plastic representation of the defeat suffered by the League is the image of Hu Jintao removed from the box of authorities on the concluding day of the Congress. The official version is that the former president felt ill. He is suspected of having Parkinson’s, but the stills show his reluctance to leave the scene.

The exclusion of Li Keqiang and Wang Yang, current members of the Politburo Standing Committee, from the Central Committee presaged the debacle of the League, which became official on Sunday, October 23, with the presentation of the new Party leaders. They are all trusted men of Xi, who has chosen as future prime minister Li Qiang, the head of the Shanghai CCP, heavily criticized in recent months for the disastrous management of the confinement against Covid-19 in China’s most populous city. .

Xi also sidelined Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, a protégé of Hu Jintao, whose name was being circulated on the eve of the Congress as a possible prime minister. Excluded from the Politburo Standing Committee, the Chinese regime’s seven-member decision-making body, “little Hu” is not even among the 24 members of the less influential Politburo. He still has a place in the Central Committee, but his political career seems to have come to an end, even though he is only 59 years old.

As Think China points out, it is the first time since 1978 that there is no League member on the Politburo. Since then, the organization – which has always been considered the “reserve” of the party – has had two general secretaries (Hu Yaobang and Hu Jintao) and several members of the Party Standing Committee, all of whom support the “reform and opening up” policy. “, launched by Deng Xiaoping 40 years ago.

Analysts note, however, that Xi’s victory over domestic competition is only temporary. The Party is too complex a reality and sooner or later a new opposition will arise to challenge the supreme leader, who in all likelihood aspires to remain in office until 2032 if not beyond.