China elevates General Zhang Shengmin to Politburo, approves party discipline resolution
The four-day closed-door plenum gave the military a seat on the party's top body and adopted a resolution on self-governance and anti-corruption.
At a glance
- Gen. Zhang Shengmin was elected to the Politburo, the only general on the Central Military Commission besides Xi Jinping.
- The party adopted a resolution on self-governance, discipline and anti-corruption at a four-day closed-door plenum.
- An analyst calculated a 74 percent attendance rate, the lowest since Mao Zedong's era, pointing to wider purges.
China's top Communist Party leaders elected Gen. Zhang Shengmin to the Politburo, the party's highest governing body, at the end of a four-day closed-door meeting that also adopted a resolution on party discipline and anti-corruption.
Zhang is vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, which oversees the country's armed forces. He is now the only general on the commission besides President Xi Jinping, after Xi purged two of China's most senior generals. Those removals left the Politburo without any representative from the People's Liberation Army. Zhang also oversees internal military discipline as deputy secretary of the CMC Commission for Discipline Inspection.
A resolution on self-governance
The party said in a summary issued by the official Xinhua News Agency that its tasks were "increasingly arduous," including leading the people in protecting national sovereignty, security and development interests. It said the party must strengthen its own governance, root out corruption and maintain ideological purity, and preserve its close ties with the public. Party members also reviewed earlier purges of senior party and military officials, confirming the personnel changes.
Political context
The meeting took place about a year before Xi is widely expected to win a fourth five-year term as party leader. Xi has championed anti-corruption since taking power in 2012 and has sustained a crackdown on officials for more than a decade. Analysts say the campaign now also targets officials seen as underperforming.
Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at Asia Policy who studies Chinese politics, analysed the plenum and calculated an attendance rate of 74 percent — the lowest since the era of former leader Mao Zedong, who ran political purges regularly. He said the meeting revealed purges on a wider scale than had been expected.
Source: NPR News.
Questions and answers
- Who is Zhang Shengmin?
- He is vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and the only general on it besides Xi Jinping, after Xi purged two senior generals. He also oversees military discipline and now sits on the Politburo.
- What did the closed-door plenum decide?
- Leaders adopted a resolution on strengthening party self-governance, discipline and anti-corruption, and confirmed earlier personnel changes after purges of senior party and military officials.
- Why does this meeting matter for Xi Jinping?
- It came about a year before Xi is widely expected to secure a fourth five-year term as the party's leader, and it followed purges that reshaped the military and the Politburo.
