Elderly Apparatchiks Shun CCP Birthday Party
The Chinese Dream isn’t for everybody apparently
Xi Jinping’s decision to become China’s president indefinitely is stoking disapproval of him among former Chinese leaders. Hints of this can be seen in various celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which was meant to hail a glorious future under the façade of a united party. Instead, fissures are starting to reveal themselves.
Since Xi removed term limits in March 2018, it has been assumed he will extend his presidency beyond the end of his second term in late 2022. There is widespread talk in Beijing that Xi will seek to remain president for 10 more years beyond the normal two terms.
When Deng Xiaoping was China’s leader, he set the two-term limit for succeeding presidents, a result of the havoc Mao Zedong wrought on China with the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution during his 27 years as the nation’s Great Helmsman.
At a ceremony in Tiananmen Square in Beijing on July 1 to celebrate the CCP’s 100th anniversary, Xi, former Chinese President Hu Jintao, former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and other current and former senior Chinese officials were at the podium as he gave his wide-ranging speech to a crowd of 70,000 people, extolling achievements over the past 100 years and calling for more in the next 100. Conspicuously absent from the podium were former President Jiang Zemin (pictured), former Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, and former Chinese security czar Luo Gan…