For more than three decades after Mao Zedong’s death in 1976, party elders wielded considerable power. But under Xi Jinping, their influence is dwindling
Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskLike his fellow retired grandees, Mr Song seldom speaks in public. So when video footage of him addressing a charitable foundation emerged online in September, it caused a stir on Chinese social media and overseas Chinese news sites. Some tried to portray it as a rebuke to China’s leader, Xi Jinping.
One such expert is Joseph Fewsmith of Boston University. “I assume there are a lot of people at very high levels who really don’t like Xi Jinping, and covid policy is the obvious attack point,” says Mr Fewsmith. “It doesn’t strike me as out of the realm of possibility that there could be a number of retired leaders who might want to coalesce and say something. But logistically it’s very hard to do.
Mr Xi made it clear he would not tolerate any such interference. In what was widely seen as a warning to Mr Jiang in 2015, the party’s mouthpiece, the, advised retired leaders that “once people leave, the tea cools down”. It accused some elders of trying to promote allies to prolong their influence, and urged them to “adjust their mentality...so as not to fall into endless troubles”. Mr Xi’s anti-corruption campaign has targeted several allies of Messrs Hu and Jiang.
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