Some analysts believe that Xi Jinping‘s layout for the 20th Congress, Li Keqiang’s power may be cut, and the fate of the vice premier is unpredictable.
The Chinese Communist Party‘s power struggle came to the fore during the two sessions. A bill under consideration at the NPC session proposes that the NPC Standing Committee can decide on the appointment and removal of other members of the State Council, including the vice premier. Some analysts believe that this shows Xi Jinping’s further centralization of power to set the stage for the 20th National Congress. Li Keqiang has already been hollowed out, and the fate of the vice premier is even more unpredictable.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress is reportedly considering the draft amendment to the Organic Law of the National People’s Congress, which includes “improving the power of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress to appoint and dismiss personnel,” emphasizing the expansion of the power of appointment and dismissal of the leadership of the State Council. This includes the Vice Premier and State Councillors of the State Council.
Wang Chen, vice chairman of the Communist Party of China National People’s Congress, said at the opening ceremony of the General Assembly on the 5th, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, in between sessions of the National People’s Congress, according to the nomination of the Premier of the State Council, can decide on the appointment and removal of other members of the State Council; also according to the nomination of the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, to decide on the appointment and removal of other members of the Military Commission.
The Standing Committee of the NPC may also decide to remove other individual members of the State Council and decide to remove other individual members of the Central Military Commission.
According to the current laws of the Communist Party of China, candidates for Vice Premier and State Councillors of the State Council are to be nominated by the Premier of the State Council, voted on by the NPC Session, and appointed by the President of the State Council in accordance with the decision of the NPC Session; while between sessions of the NPC, the NPC Standing Committee may decide on the nomination of ministers, committee directors, auditors general, and secretaries general based on the nomination of the Premier of the State Council.
The bill, which is then under consideration at the NPC session, amends to expand the appointment authority of the NPC Standing Committee.
Analysis suggests that this provision will expand the powers of the NPC Standing Committee, with Premier Li Keqiang’s powers further hollowed out and the fate of the vice premier even more uncertain.
Radio Free Asia quoted Wang Zhiqiang, a constitutional scholar in Shanxi, as saying that once the draft is passed, Premier Li Keqiang’s executive power will be weakened. The two sets of the Communist Party and the government, each with its own powers, will now be unified under the Party leadership. Li Keqiang already had no real power, so he has even less power.
He said that judging from the recent code of conduct in which the top echelon of the Communist Party demands that all party members obey the Party Central Committee with Xi Jinping at its core, the NPC must obey the top leader of the Communist Party, so the change cannot be interpreted simply as an expansion of the NPC’s power, but crucially as a further reduction of the premier’s power.
Wang continued, in this case, the CPC National People’s Congress shares the worries of the top leader, and if there is anything in the future, it will sound better if the NPC Standing Committee raises it. Because now all the power has been monopolized, there is no opposition force.
Liu He, who now ranks first among vice premiers, has been identified by outsiders as Xi Jinping’s close confidant and number one economic advisor. Xi Jinping has publicly called Liu “very important” to him.
The current vice premiers of the Communist Party of China include Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua and Liu He.
Current affairs commentator Sanpo told Apple Daily that the amendment is the first in more than 30 years since the NPC’s Organic Law was rewritten in 1982 to address the appointment and removal of vice premiers, state councilors, vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission and members of the military commission.
The current vice premiers of the State Council include Han Zheng, Sun Chunlan, Hu Chunhua and Liu He. State Councillors are Wei Fenghe, Wang Yong, Wang Yi, Xiao Jie and Zhao Kezhi; Vice Chairmen of the Central Military Commission are Xu Qiliang and Zhang Yuman; and members of the Central Military Commission are Wei Fenghe, Li Zuocheng, Miao Hua and Zhang Shengmin.
Samp said all of these people may be removed by the NPC Standing Committee when the NPC is in recess. The NPC Standing Committee meets once a month, and can also hold additional meetings at any Time if necessary, allowing the CCP to maneuver to appoint, remove or dismiss people from their positions.
Liu He, who currently ranks first among the CCP’s vice premiers, has been identified by outsiders as Xi Jinping’s close friend and number one economic adviser. Xi Jinping has publicly called Liu “very important” to him. Hu Chunhua has long been considered one of Xi’s successors by the Communist Party. Han and Sun both have Jiang faction backgrounds.
According to Samp, the draft amendment to “improve the NPC Standing Committee’s power to appoint and dismiss personnel” is to be observed in the context of the 20th Communist Party Congress in 2022, when Xi Jinping, who wants to stay in power forever, describes the move as “washing the peace,” and intends to remove all possible anti-corruption officials in the meantime. In the meantime, he intends to nip all possible anti-Xi forces in the bud.
As to whether this represents an imminent change in leadership, Samp believes it is quite possible, especially for Vice Premier Hu Chunhua, who has been described as a “reunionist,” and Han Zheng, who comes from the “Shanghai gang,” both of whom are likely to be pulled from power at this time. The two are likely to be brought down at this point.
This “sharpening of the knife” is in line with a series of combinations, such as Xi’s recent reference to “fighting the landlords and dividing the land”, his threat to attack Taiwan, and his madness to stifle freedom and human rights in Hong Kong. This reflects Xi’s plan to further consolidate power and purge possible opposition forces.
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