A new video released by the Singapore TV station, Channel news Asia, puts in a different light what happened on Saturday 22 October, at the conclusion of the XX Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The official Xinhua news agency reported that Hu Jintao’s unexpected exit was caused by health problems, but images released on Tuesday show a new insight into what happened. They do not entirely deny the official line that the former president was dismissed due to illness, but they do suggest that the package of documents he had in front of him played a role in the incident.
The video begins with Jintao’s neighbor on the podium of the Great Hall of the People, Li Zhanshu, taking a document from his hands and putting it back under a red cover, like those found in front of all other top executives, while arguing with Hu.
At first he leaves the documents in front of the former leader, who seems confused. Then, perhaps worried that Hu will try to pull the document out again, Zhanshu pulls the stack of papers towards him and holds it steady with his hand.
Xi Jinping glances towards the side of the stage, most likely to ask for someone’s intervention, as a senior assistant approaches and talks to him briefly, before walking away.
Li Zhanshu continues to talk to Hu Jintao, while Xi looks straight ahead with an impassive gaze. The young assistant arrives who will soon escort Hu off the stage, talks briefly with Hu and Li, then goes and talks a little longer with Xi.
At this point the movie shows the images that we have all already seen. The assistant takes former president Jintao by the arm to help him get up from his seat. At the exit Hu tries to take Xi Jinping’s notes, which were between them on the table, but Xi raises his hand and holds the papers.
It is unclear whether or not this is an actual political purge. In the video Hu Jintao appears confused – which would confirm his alleged health problem – but at the same time he doesn’t seem to want to leave when he is asked to get up. Furthermore, the images of the incident were not broadcast in China and the name of the former president and that of his son, Hu Haifeng, were censored on the Internet, inside the great firewall of the country. What is certain is that Hu Jintao’s exit has a political weight and a humiliating effect on the figure of the former president, while Xi Jinping comes out strengthened by what happened. Prominent on stage, as it is now in Chinese politics.