Immediately after taking the stage, Wang Qishan stressed that he was not giving a speech, it was Xi Jinping who gave the address, and he was only reporting for Xi. (Video screenshot)
At the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia on the 20th, Chinese Communist Party Vice President Wang Qishan showed up. When the master of ceremonies introduced Wang to the stage, Wang Qishan went off script and said he was not giving a speech, the speech was given by Xi Jinping, and he was only announcing for Xi, which drew public attention.
The Boao Forum for Asia 2021 annual meeting, held in Boao, Hainan, from April 18 to 21, is the world’s first major international conference this year, with a focus on physical meetings. The pro-Beijing Dovetail.com reported on April 20 that at the opening ceremony, after Ban Ki-moon, chairman of the Boao Forum for Asia, delivered a speech, the emcee introduced Wang Qishan to the stage.
Wang Qishan walked onto the stage and immediately said: “First of all, I am not giving a speech, in this plenary session of Boao Forum for Asia, the speech is ……. President Xi Jinping, but then, the organizers …… me to the scene everyone always has to give me a role.”
The scene issued a sound of laughter. Wang Qishan continued: “I appreciate it, this role is to do a temporary host, temporary host is also very important. I just do a curtain call for our President Xi Jinping’s speech.”
Then Wang Qishan began the “curtain call”: congratulations to heads of state, heads of government, heads of international organizations, as well as Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of the Board of Governors, guests, to attend the Boao Forum for Asia 2021 annual meeting.
Wang Qishan said, this year is the 20th anniversary of the Boao Forum for Asia, as the host country of the Forum, the Chinese Communist Government has always supported the development and growth of the Boao Forum for Asia, Xi Jinping specially recorded a video for this year’s annual meeting. Please welcome Xi Jinping to deliver his video keynote speech next. Xi then delivered his keynote speech by video.
At this year’s two sessions, Xi Jinping said he would “settle the score” against corrupt officials, and Wang Qishan took the rare lead in supporting Xi, drawing attention.
During the two sessions of the Communist Party, Wang Qishan mentioned Xi Jinping at least eight times in his speech on the morning of March 6 when he attended the Hunan delegation’s deliberations.
At the time, China Watch columnist Zheng Zhongyuan analyzed the latest round of Xi praise at the two sessions as extremely rare. The main reason is that the high-ranking officials’ statements praising Xi Jinping have been published in a high-profile Xinhua News Agency article, with special emphasis on Xi’s title of “helmsman,” which is an imitation of Mao Zedong and even surpasses Mao, obviously to build momentum for his re-election to the 20th National Assembly.
But Zheng Zhongyuan noted that the scale of the loyalty shows that there is an implication that everyone has passed the test.
Wang Qishan, 73, was the secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in his first term after Xi Jinping came to power, and assisted him in his “anti-corruption” campaign against the tigers, taking down Bo Xilai, Su Rong, Zhou Yongkang, Xu Caihou, Guo Boxiong, Ling Plan and many other Jiang faction members, clearing the way for Xi along the way.
Earlier, there was an analysis that Xi Jinping would not move his “sidekicks” in order to take care of Wang Qishan. However, after the 19th National Congress, the relationship between Xi and Wang quickly cooled.
In 2020, Ren Zhiqiang, a close friend of Wang Qishan and a member of the Red Generation, was heavily sentenced to 18 years for criticizing Xi, and Dong Hong, Wang Qishan’s top butler and former deputy head of the Central Inspection Group, fell from power. In January this year, HNA Group, which is believed to have shallow ties to Wang Qishan’s family, also filed for bankruptcy reorganization. Meanwhile, Wang Qishan’s old ministry, former Haikou secretary Zhang Qi, was named and criticized by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
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