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BEIJING — The twice-a-decade congress of China's ruling Communist Party is a tightly choreographed event. So when former Chinese President Hu Jintao was guided off stage without explanation Saturday — as the world’s media looked on — questions spilled forth.
Hu, who has reportedly been in poor health, appeared confused during the incident, although not in obvious distress. While an attendant held his arm, he shuffled off stage right, speaking briefly with Xi and patting Premier Li Keqiang on the shoulder. Throughout the process, most of the other delegates stared silently ahead.
Hu had favored his protege, Li, as his successor. Li, who belonged to Hu's Communist Youth League faction, instead got the No. 2 spot in the party hierarchy.from the leadership, dropping him from the party's 205-member Central Committee. Li and two others who had also been appointed under Hu and were dropped from the committee are expected to go into retirement.
Xi has been steering China into what the party calls a “new era,” away from the legacy of former leader Deng Xiaoping, who launched China on its economic rise with market-oriented reforms — and also selected Hu as a future leader.