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ANALYSIS/China plenum lays groundwork for prolonged Xi rule: Scholars Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) China's latest Communist Party plenum could help instituti…
What this means for you
Chinese students and workers in the US may see increased scrutiny of loyalty to Beijing's leadership line, as the plenum emphasized selecting officials 'capable and trustworthy' to Xi's vision. New immigrants and families could face tighter controls on dissent or political expression, given the plenum's focus on extending supervision beyond corruption to 'performance and conduct.' The reduction of Central Committee attendance from 376 to 279 members highlights a purge that may reinforce a climate of caution among overseas Chinese communities. Any future changes to cadre assessment or party supervision, potentially discussed at next year's 21st party congress, could indirectly affect visa policies, academic exchanges, or professional opportunities tied to political alignment.
ANALYSIS/China plenum lays groundwork for prolonged Xi rule: Scholars
Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) China's latest Communist Party plenum could help institutionalize Xi Jinping's (習近平) prolonged rule while preparing a new generation of officials without identifying a successor, scholars said at a forum in Taipei on Friday.
The four-day plenum -- the fifth of the party's 20th Central Committee -- concluded in Beijing on Thursday and adopted a measure on sustaining efforts to strengthen party discipline and governance, according to the official communique published by Xinhua.
It also confirmed earlier decisions to expel 33 officials from the party, including former senior military leaders Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Liu Zhenli (劉振立).
That left what the Guardian described as "an unprecedented number of empty seats" at the plenum, "indicating the scale of purges under Xi."
Of the 376 original Central Committee full and alternate members named in 2022, only 279 attended this week's gathering, the Guardian said.
The plenum also elevated Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Shengmin (張升民) to the Politburo and promoted 10 alternate Central Committee members to full membership.
Tzeng Wei-feng (曾偉峯), an associate research fellow at National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations, saw the plenum as elevating Xi's thinking on party building and establishing standards for training, selecting and supervising officials loyal to his vision.
"It is using the language of institutions to carry personal authority," Tzeng said at the institute's forum examining the meeting.
He described the process as "succession without a successor," referring to generational turnover within the leadership rather than a transfer of power from Xi to a designated heir.
Tzeng suggested Xi's thinking on party building could be incorporated into the party constitution at next year's 21st party congress, potentially followed by changes to supervisory institutions and cadre assessment.
In the future, Tzeng said, party supervision could place greater emphasis on officials' performance and conduct, extending beyond corruption and criminal wrongdoing.
Those standards could guide a substantial leadership reshuffle, bringing forward younger officials whom Xi considered capable and trustworthy, he suggested.
Tzeng cautioned, however, that his interpretation remained preliminary pending an examination of all of the measures adopted at the plenum.
Chang Hung-yuan (張弘遠), a professor from the Department of International Trade at Chihlee University of Technology, argued that disciplinary purges should increasingly be understood as a lasting feature of party governance rather than a temporary campaign.
"In the past, we treated the anti-corruption drive as a campaign. Now it appears to be part of the system," Chang said.
The promotion of officials with disciplinary inspection and regulatory backgrounds reflected greater emphasis on supervision and ideological control ahead of the next congress, he argued.
Yet tighter discipline also risked discouraging officials from taking action, Chang said, arguing that Xi needed cadres to implement policies and address economic problems while remaining obedient, creating tension between strict control and administrative flexibility.
Zhang Lun (張倫), a professor of Chinese studies at CY Cergy Paris University in France, offered a further distinction between formal institutions and the exercise of power.
Party plenums often confirmed agendas and personnel arrangements already largely settled, providing procedural legitimacy, he said, while noting that some earlier meetings had allowed substantive discussion.
Under Xi, actual authority was concentrated in the individual leader despite the party's formal organizational hierarchy, Zhang argued.
He viewed the latest plenum as transitional, with purges and personnel selection still underway.
Vacancies did not necessarily require immediate replacement, and some arrangements might become clearer at the next plenum as Xi prepared to consolidate control over the leadership lineup, Zhang said.
This week's plenum decided to hold the next party congress in the second half of 2027. A sixth plenum of the Central Committee referred to by Zhang would be expected to take place before then.
(By Chao Yen-hsiang)
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China plenum lays groundwork for prolonged Xi rule: Scholars
Source: Focus Taiwan
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