Hu Jintao

The former president is escorted off stage during the Party Congress, with no explanation given.

He also reaffirmed China's right to use force to seize the self-ruled island of Taiwan. Hu Jintao represents a very different China to that of Xi Jinping. He attended the earlier closed-door session on the last day of the Congress, then cameras were allowed in for the final portion of the day. The Communist Party's mass meetings are normally highly scripted events, leading to speculation that the timing of Hu Jintao's departure might not have been an accident. Why in front of the cameras? There are a lot of questions and no answers so far from the Chinese government.

China's President Xi Jinping (right) sits beside Premier Li Keqiang (left) as former president Hu Jintao (centre) is assisted to leave from the closing ceremony ...

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Mr Hu, President Xi Jinping's immediate predecessor, appeared confused and slightly disoriented as the assistants escorted him out.

Mr Hu, Mr Xi's immediate predecessor, appeared confused and slightly disorientated as the assistants escorted him out. Mr Hu, President Xi Jinping's immediate predecessor, appeared confused and slightly disoriented as the assistants escorted him out. If it was an example of political power play it would be utterly extraordinary. The timing is curious. Only Central Committee members can serve on the Standing Committee. Despite the fact Mr Xi is known to have thought of Mr Hu as weak, and despite the fact they come from different wings of the party, former leaders are generally revered.

Hu Jintao was escorted out of the closing ceremony of the party congress as Xi Jinping consolidates his position.

A steward attempted to take a sitting Hu by the arm before being shaken off. [79-year-old](/news/2012/11/9/chinas-hu-says-corruption-threatens-state) seemed reluctant to leave the front row of proceedings at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, where he was sitting next to President Xi Jinping. [Xi set to reveal China’s new senior leadership as Congress ends](/news/2022/10/21/xi-set-to-reveal-chinas-new-senior-leadership-as-congress-ends) [Japan, Australia leaders sign new security pact to counter China](/news/2022/10/22/japan-australia-leaders-sign-new-security-pact-to-counter-china) [What’s on the agenda for China’s 20th Communist Party Congress?](/news/2022/10/16/whats-on-the-agenda-for-chinas-communist-party-congress)

Video shows former president, 79, reluctantly leaving closing ceremony of China's National Congress.

Finally, he reaches for a folder on the table in front of the current president, before Mr Xi rests a hand on it and says a word or two. And it comes at a 20th National Congress that has been entirely geared to solidifying Mr Xi’s status as the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. Officials may be preparing an explanation of what happened, but it certainly wasn’t provided immediately on Saturday. Mr Hu’s leadership style contrasts sharply with that of his successor Xi Jinping, who even at the time of their handover was seen as a “strongman” to transform the country’s hitherto “weak” presidency. [Terms of use,](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/user-policies-a6184151.html) [Cookie policy](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/cookie-policy-a6184186.html) and [Privacy notice.](https://www.independent.co.uk/service/privacy-policy-a6184181.html) [Xi Jinping](/topic/xi-jinping) for the closing ceremony of the party gathering when aides approached and, after some initial reluctance on Mr Hu’s part, escorted him away. Jiang only resigned from this role in 2004, allowing Mr Hu to cement his position of power. [Privacy policy](https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en) and [Terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?hl=en) apply. The first is that Mr Hu’s departure is a staged and symbolic rejection of the older, more liberal order of the Chinese Communist Party – a changing of the guard that includes Though Mr Hu’s departure was a clean break, his protegé and fellow liberal economist Li Keqiang was named as premier by Mr Xi, a recognition of the need for continuity in the pursuit of economic growth. As he left, the former president exchanged a word with Mr Xi and patted the shoulder of his former protegé, Chinese premier [Li Keqiang](/topic/li-keqiang). [Chinese Communist Party](/topic/chinese-communist-party) concluded on Saturday with a dramatic and as-yet unexplained moment: the apparent ejection of former president [Hu Jintao](/topic/hu-jintao) from the main stage.

Why was Hu Jintao asked to leave the stage at the end of China's Communist Party congress?

It does not include Li Keqiang or Wang Yang, both seen as economic liberals, both linked to the ideas of the former administration. It was just after the cameras had set up that officials approached Mr Hu and indicated that he should go. A longer edit of the footage taken on Saturday shows Xi Jinping turning to the former party chairman and also, to Mr Hu's left, senior figures Li Zhanshu and Wang Huning appearing concerned. The current government has encouraged an explosion in nationalist sentiment, showing little concern for what anyone else thinks about its handling of anything. Why in front of the cameras? What did he say to the man who replaced him, Xi Jinping, which prompted a nod from China's current leader?

The frail-looking Hu, 79, was sitting next to current President Xi Jinping when he was approached by a steward who repeatedly tried to lift him from his seat, ...

According to [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/world/china/former-chinese-president-hu-jintao-escorted-out-party-congress-2022-10-22/), Hu had already appeared slightly unsteady during the opening ceremony last Sunday. It also wrote Xi’s major policy initiatives on the economy and the military into the party’s constitution, the AP said. As he was leaving, Hu exchanged a few words with Xi and patted Premier Li Keqiang, seated to the right of Xi, on the shoulder.

Why was Hu Jintao asked to leave the stage at the end of China's Communist Party congress?

It does not include Li Keqiang or Wang Yang, both seen as economic liberals, both linked to the ideas of the former administration. It was just after the cameras had set up that officials approached Mr Hu and indicated that he should go. A longer edit of the footage taken on Saturday shows Xi Jinping turning to the former party chairman and also, to Mr Hu's left, senior figures Li Zhanshu and Wang Huning appearing concerned. The current government has encouraged an explosion in nationalist sentiment, showing little concern for what anyone else thinks about its handling of anything. Why in front of the cameras? What did he say to the man who replaced him, Xi Jinping, which prompted a nod from China's current leader?

China's 20th Party Congress concluded on Saturday with a rare and shocking piece of live drama. Hu Jintao, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ...

Xu Caihou, a high-ranking military official, was [detained](https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/12/06/special-measures/detention-and-torture-chinese-communist-partys-shuanggui-system?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqc6aBhC4ARIsAN06NmMYqNpnBf4ZBCD2foKElOiTP4KtQid9B2VOy4g4La_qX9mI-QoFfe0aAn_CEALw_wcB) in 2014 in the middle of cancer treatment, and died the next year. [extremely harsh](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/19/china-party-congress-xi-jinping-speech/) language in his opening work report to describe the situation within the party when he took over, speaking of a “slide toward weak, hollow, and watered-down party leadership in practice,” though without mentioning Hu or others by name. (Hu’s contribution to Marxist theory, the Scientific Outlook on Development, also got a token mention in Xi’s speech.) Humiliating Hu in this fashion would also send a clear signal to the “ [retired elders](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/13/china-xi-jinping-succession-ccp-party-congress-elders/),” the former high-level leaders who long remained a force within the party, that Xi’s power was unbound. But the third and most disturbing possibility is that it was planned, and we just witnessed Xi deliberately and publicly humiliate his predecessor—possibly as a precursor to wielding the tools of party discipline, followed by judicial punishment, against him. The initial list of Central Committee names—the roughly 200 people who will nominally decide the Standing Committee, the core of the leadership, in meetings Saturday and announce it Sunday—is missing Li Keqiang, the current premier and a protégé of Hu’s, and other relative economic reformers such as Wang Yang and Liu He. Hu was associated with a power network of former leaders, like himself, of the Communist Youth League; that faction appears to have been [effectively destroyed](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/04/world/asia/china-communist-youth-league.html). That could have been a remark by Hu to his former colleagues backstage or perhaps even signs of dementia that caused a sudden panic that something might go wrong. Since stepping down as CCP leader in 2012, when Hu was lauded by party media for—in a stark contrast to Xi—relinquishing power, he has been largely off the stage. Hu was seated in a prominent position next to current CCP leader Xi Jinping, and the incident was caught on camera; he appeared to ask Xi and Premier Li Keqiang a question, to which they both nodded, while Xi prevented him from taking some papers by placing his hand on them. [visibly frail](https://twitter.com/aaronMCN/status/1583775726138195970) during the Party Congress. The second possibility is that information suddenly came up that made Xi—who would have had to personally approve any such move—afraid that Hu might abstain or even vote against him in the rounds of otherwise unanimous voting that finished off the Party Congress. That wasn’t out of any great commitment to liberalism on Hu’s part but because most party members were more occupied with making money than with enforcing the party line.

President Xi Jinping is expected to be confirmed for a third term by the congress later this week, breaking with decades of tradition and making him China's ...

President Xi is expected to be confirmed for a third term by the congress later this week, breaking with decades of tradition and making him China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. During the session, Li was effectively removed from the senior leadership. President Xi Jinping is expected to be confirmed for a third term by the congress later this week, breaking with decades of tradition and making him China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong

Why was Hu Jintao asked to leave the stage at the end of China's Communist Party congress?

No include Li Keqiang or Wang Yang, both wey pipo see as economic liberals, both linked to di ideas of the former administration. Na just afta dem set up di cameras officials approach Mr Hu and indicate sya make e go. China leader move Mr Hu hand and take di notes back. Mr Li even move to help am at one point, but e be like Mr Wang pull am back, as if to say, "No involve yourself for dis." Wetin e say to di man wey replace am, Xi Jinping, wey make China current leader nod im head? However, if dem lead am away at di end because of ill-health, why e happun so suddenly?

The former Communist party leader is sitting to the left of current boss Xi Jinping, and he reaches out to take Xi's notes, but Xi moves Hu's hand away and ...

All the same, it was highly humiliating for Hu and at the very least it is highly symbolic of the vast change in China’s governance since he was in charge. Interestingly, Hu’s son, Hu Haifeng, the party secretary of Lishui in Zhejiang province, was in the audience as he is also a delegate to the congress. He was easy to spot in the hall, one of the few on the leadership benches with grey hair – black hair dye is usually de rigueur among the old party elite. Perhaps Hu is just ill and took a nasty turn; that is certainly what Xinhua, China’s state news agency, hinted at on Saturday, tweeting that Hu had insisted on being present, ‘despite the fact that he has been taking time out to recuperate recently’. Another potential irritant, Jiang Zemin, the Communist party boss before Hu Jintao, is now 96 years old and did not make an appearance at the congress. But Hu is clearly reluctant to go, leaning over and saying something to an impassive-looking Xi, who nods and gives a brief reply to Hu without looking directly at him.

Former Chinese President Hu Jintao has been filmed being escorted off the stage during the closing session of a week-long party congress in Beijing on Saturday.

A party congress effectively removed four of the seven members of senior leadership. Former Chinese President Hu Jintao has been filmed being escorted off the stage during the closing session of a week-long party congress in Beijing on Saturday. Hu Jintao: China's former leader unexpectedly escorted away as Xi Jinping holds party congress

Video footage showed Hu repeatedly being lifted from his seat by a steward. Concerned officials seated nearby watched as he was escorted out.

Looking distressed, Hu appeared to resist leaving as the stewards escorted him out, turning back to his seat at one point. [Xi Jinping](https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/chinas-xi-meet-turkeys-erdogan-regional-summit)'s immediate predecessor, was seated to the left of Xi. Video footage published by AFP showed a steward repeatedly trying to lift Hu from his seat, drawing concerned looks from officials seated nearby.

Hu's departure was left unexplained, and the nation's censors appeared to quickly scrub any recent references to him from the internet.

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Today, we were given an unexpected detail. In the middle of today's session of the 20th Communist Party Congress, former General Secretary Hu Jintao was ...

Unfortunately, the speculation and rumormongering about Hu are a product of the secrecy of the party itself. The more important piece of information that has emerged from the congress has to do with personnel—the shuffling of party leaders into the elite decision-making bodies: the party’s Central Committee, Politburo, and Politburo Standing Committee. As of this writing, all signs suggest the party leadership will be completely dominated by Xi, in a way it hasn’t been in the first 10 years of his rule. Hu’s 10-year tenure has previously been described in the West as a “lost decade” for China, a period in which both and economic and political reform largely stalled. This would be dramatic indeed, but making such a gesture at the congress itself would be cruel and unnecessary. Still, as James Palmer of Foreign Policy noted [earlier today](https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/22/china-xi-jinping-hu-jintao-ccp-congress/), Hu Jintao poses little threat to Xi at this point, given his age and declining stature in the system. During the remainder of the congress, Xi will install loyalists at the top levels of the party and claim a third term as general secretary. I have seen juicier interpretations still—such as that Hu was actively being purged at that very moment and would soon be charged with corruption and formally investigated by the party’s disciplinary apparatus. Having Hu literally pulled away could be a way for Xi to signal his dominance and send a message to other elites and the public. Hu, and his allies and protégés, represent a more technocratic, moderate arm of the party—one decidedly less repressive, and more open to the outside world. Hu’s feeble exit from stage is a sad symbol of the current trajectory of Chinese politics. In the middle of today’s session of the 20th Communist Party Congress, former General Secretary Hu Jintao was abruptly escorted off stage.

Xinhua news agency says former Chinese president was led from political gathering to 'rest' amid mystery around his departure.

Looking distressed, Hu appeared to resist leaving as the stewards escorted him out, turning back to his seat at one point. The footage, published by AFP, showed a steward repeatedly trying to lift Hu from his seat, drawing concerned looks from officials seated nearby. Hu, 79, is Xi Jinping’s immediate predecessor and was seated to the left of Xi.