Former Chinese leader Hu Jintao has been kicked out of the closing ceremony of the Communist Party Congress.
The frail-looking 79-year-old was sitting next to President Xi Jinping when officials approached and led him away. No explanation was given.
After its week-long congress, the party is expected to confirm Mr Xi, 69, for a historic third term.
The event, held in Beijing every five years, cemented his position as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
Hu Jintao, who held the presidency between 2003 and 2013, was on stage when two officials approached him. He said something to Xi Jinping who nodded.
Then Mr. Ho was led out of the Great Hall of the People.
Footage of Hu Jintao being asked to leave the stage is attracting global attention, as people try to figure out what just happened. There are still many questions and no answers from the Chinese government.
The country’s former leader, at one point, appeared reluctant to move. If so, why? What he said to the man who replaced him, Xi Jinping, a nod to China’s current leader, and what he said to his protégé Li Keqiang as he shrugged him off the stage. Tapped on?
The two most likely reasons for his departure are that it was either part of China’s power politics, in which the representative leader of the previous time was symbolically removed, or that Hu Jintao have serious health problems.
If he was removed due to ill health, why did it happen so suddenly? Why in front of the cameras? Was it an emergency?
A longer edit of the footage taken today shows Xi Jinping turning to the left of the former party chairman and Mr Hu, with senior figures Li Zhanshu and Wang Huning looking worried.
Communist Party mass meetings are usually highly scripted events, leading to speculation that the timing of Hu Jintao’s departure may not have been an accident. He first attended a closed-door session on the last day of Congress, then allowed cameras in later in the day. Shortly after the cameras were installed, officers approached Mr. Ho and motioned for him to leave.
Hu Jintao represents a very different China from Xi Jinping’s China. He exercised a highly collective leadership and had to balance the various factions represented in the Standing Committee of the Politburo. The Ho year was seen as a time to open up to the outside world and increase tolerance for new ideas.
As General Secretary of the Party, Xi has taken the country with him in a very different direction at the “core” and cannot be challenged.
The new Central Committee does not include Li Keqiang or Wang Yang, both considered economic liberals, both associated with the ideas of the former administration. It points to a new Politburo Standing Committee stacked with Xi loyalists.
Earlier on Saturday, a central committee consisting of 205 senior party officials was elected. Delegates rubber-stamped amendments to the party constitution endorsing Mr Xi’s views as guiding principles for China’s future.
In his inaugural address to Congress last Sunday, he hailed the crushing of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong as “from chaos to rule”. He also affirmed China’s right to use force to seize the sovereign island of Taiwan.
Mr. Xi currently combines the posts of General Secretary of the Communist Party, President and Chief of the Armed Forces. He is also called Paramount or Supreme Leader.
On Sunday, he is expected to be formally confirmed for a third term as general secretary and unveil his new leadership team.
In 2018, he abolished the presidential two-term limit, paving the way for him to rule indefinitely.
