Experts Believe Xi Shakes Up China’s Power Order. But, Experts Still Say He Controls All

• Last month, Xi Jinping made public his intention to announce the seven top officials of China.
• His new team is quite different from the ones that ruled with him between 2017-2022.
• Insider heard from experts that there should be little change in the outlook for Xi’s new cadres.

On October 23, President Xi Jinping unveiled who China’s men would be for the next five year.

He was a great man. strode past a golden doorwayTo meet the media at the Great Hall of the People six officials accompanied him: Zhao Leji (Li Qiang), Cai Qi, Wang Huning and Cai Qi.

The new line-up is a dramatic shift from the committee that ran China from 2017 to 2022. Zhao and Wang, two of the six members of the Politburo Standing Committee, were able to survive the transition. Four of the other members of the Politburo Standing Committee either retired or were removed.

Insider spoke to two experts to discuss the top three members of China’s Politburo Standing Committee — Li, Wang, and Zhao — and what their appointments say about Xi’s leadership style.

Li Qiang is Xi’s trusted aide

Boosted to the second-in-command spot by Xi, Li is thought to be one of the president’s closest protégés. From 2004 to 2007, he was the leader’s chief-of-staff.

“Xi Jinping never uses his old people.” People who have worked in Zhejiang with him. Insider was told by Alfred Wu, an associate professor at National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

Li’s selection as No. Perhaps the most telling indicator of Xi’s power is Li’s appointment as No. He was not even part of the seven-member previous committee and had been deeply dispopularized for his careless handling of a Two-month lockdown in Shanghai.

Wu said that there was speculation that Li would be demolished following the Shanghai lockdowns. “But he’s one of Xi Jinping’s people. This message is very important.”

“This clearly shows that Li hasn’t taken the entire blame and that it wasn’t him who was responsible for the implementation problems in Shanghai,” Dylan Loh of Nanyang Technological University of Singapore told Insider.

Zhao Leji is the voice of Shaanxi Gang.

Zhao was the previous head of Xi’s powerful disciplinary panel, or CCDI. This agency is designed to crackdown on widespread corruption among China’s elite and forms the core of Xi’s signature anti-corruption campaign. 

It was during Zhao’s tenure as the head of the CCDI that the agency started its stunning crackdown on big tech, a sector that had — until then — enjoyed rampant growth in China. 

Zhao was the lowest-ranking member on the previous standing committee. He has since risen to his current position by a total of four positions.

“Giving Zhao third place could be an incentive or reward. Loh stated that it indicated to him that Xi Jinping is happy with Zhao’s work.

Zhao, however, was known for his “largely hands-off” approach during his time in office. He didn’t spend much time on investigations. Chun Han Wong of The Wall Street Journal and Keith Zai contributed to this article.

Wu believes Zhao was appointed because of his relationship to Xi. He is part of the “Shaanxi Gang,”A group of Communist Party leaderships who are natives of Xi’s hometown, Shaanxi and grew-up with him.

Analysts from the Brookings InstitutionZhao is frequently regarded as a spokesperson for Shaanxi Gang.

This does not mean Zhao was a childhood friend or associate of Xi. Xi was a more prominent friend of other past leaders than Zhao. Wu stated that he is part of the club.

Wang Huning is Xi’s ideologist

Wu stated that Wang is known as a survivor among Chinese scholars. He is often compared with a roly-poly doll, which is a doll with a rounded, bottom. This is because he didn’t fall while serving China’s three most recent regimes under Xi Jintao, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin.

Widely considered the brains behind Xi’s policies and ideologies, Wang also helped Hu and Jiang craft their own political theories — an important mechanism that sets the tone for their administration’s rule.

Loh stated Wang has been “indispensable to Xi” because of his skills in crafting political themes, slogans and other messages that are essential to Xi’s legitimacy within China.

Loh stated that Xi had increasingly turned to ideologies in his quest for power. “Mao resorted violence, DengXiaoping resorted money and growth.”

The professor stated, “Violence today is unthinkable, and money can be a limited resource.”

Wang published “America Against America” in 1991. It was his prediction that the US would lose its dominance and stability due to its focus on “individualism,” “hedonism, and democracy.” 

The book was sold on Chinese online marketplaces after the Capitol riot last year. Bloomberg reported.

This sentiment is often echoed in China. Today’s diplomatic and political rhetoric. Wang played an important role in the creation of Hu and Jiang’s ideologies. This allowed China to have positive relations with the US, and open its economy more to Western trade.

It’s still Xi’s China

Experts on Chinese politics stated that the world shouldn’t expect much change from China’s new leaders even with Xi’s committee. They stated that differences in governing ideologies and economic policies held by the six members of his committee are inconsequential with Xi still in charge.

Wu stated that Zhao may have helped to craft and refine Xi’s ideologies but that their essence came from the president and not his political theorist. “When an emperor has so much people supporting his cause, then the emperor should take full responsibility.”

“Xi Jinping makes this very clear. Wu stated that he is the commander. Wu said, “But a top leader won’t claim to be in control of everything. Otherwise you would have to assume responsibility for everything.”