China looks ahead to fall party congress, leadership changes
BEIJING — As if any reminder were needed, delegates to China’s ceremonial parliament were repeatedly told in no uncertain terms this week what job No. 1 is: “Follow the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core.”
The exhortation carries added weight as China moves toward its most important political event in five years, the ruling Communist Party’s 19th National Congress. The event, this fall, is expected to usher in a second five-year term as general secretary for Xi — China’s most powerful leader in decades — along with a major infusion of new blood into the party’s governing bodies.
Key among those is the Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of Chinese power led by Xi. All but two of its seven members are expected to step down, according to recent practice, and their replacements will define Xi’s rule over the next five years, and possibly beyond.
While there’s little blue sky between the party elites in terms of policies and ideology, the team that Xi assembles could point toward whether China is headed toward an even more authoritarian future or one of greater balance between rivals.