- Joe Rogan slams former home state California for going ‘full communist’ over ‘insane’ approach to law enforcem Daily Mail
- Joe Rogan says he’s glad he left California because state went ‘full communist’ Fox News
- Joe Rogan hits out at ‘fully communist’ California in furious rant: ‘I’m glad I left!’ GB News
- “It’s gone like full communist” – Joe Rogan shares why transgender rights and other issues pushed him away from “left-leaning” political allegiance Sportskeeda
- Joe Rogan Continues His Hate Towards California as Austin Resident Lays Bare His Thoughts – “They Are Not Hollywood People” EssentiallySports
Tag Archives: Communist
Communist revolutionaries set fire to American flags in protest outside Jason Aldean show: ‘We will try it right in front of your concert’ – New York Post
- Communist revolutionaries set fire to American flags in protest outside Jason Aldean show: ‘We will try it right in front of your concert’ New York Post
- Communist revolutionaries burn American flags outside Jason Aldean concert, claiming ‘America was never great’ Fox News
- Jason Aldean Concert Protested by Communists Who Burn American Flag TMZ
- Communist group burns flag, protests Jason Aldean’s Tinley Park concert The Pantagraph
- Shocking moment communist revolutionaries burn American flags outside Jason Aldean’s Chicago concert while moc Daily Mail
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Elon Musk says progressive LA school has turned daughter into ‘communist’ who thinks ‘anyone rich is evil’ – Yahoo Finance
- Elon Musk says progressive LA school has turned daughter into ‘communist’ who thinks ‘anyone rich is evil’ Yahoo Finance
- Elon Musk blames elite LA school for brainwashing ‘communist’ trans daughter into hating him for being rich New York Post
- Elon Musk’s Daughter ‘Doesn’t Want to Spend Time with Me,’ He Says in New Biography: Report PEOPLE
- Elon Musk became ‘anti-woke’ because of his daughter’s gender transition, book claims The Independent
- Elon Musk calls his transgender daughter Vivian a ‘communist’ who thinks ‘anyone rich is evil’ and accuses pri Daily Mail
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Readout of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Meeting with Chinese Communist Party Politburo Member and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi – The White House
- Readout of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s Meeting with Chinese Communist Party Politburo Member and Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission Wang Yi The White House
- White House national security adviser met with top Chinese official in highest US-China engagement since spy balloon incident CNN
- US, China agree to maintain communication as officials meet Al Jazeera English
- US and China hold talks on global security in effort to defuse tensions Financial Times
- U.S. holds ‘candid’ talks with China amid Russia’s war in Ukraine CNBC
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Vietnam president quits as Communist Party intensifies graft crackdown
HANOI, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Vietnam President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has resigned after the ruling Communist Party blamed him for “violations and wrongdoing” by officials under his control, the government said on Tuesday, in a major escalation of the country’s anti-graft campaign.
Phuc, a former prime minister widely credited with accelerating pro-business reforms, held the largely ceremonial post of president since 2021 and is the highest-ranking official targeted by the party’s sweeping corruption crackdown.
Vietnam has no paramount ruler and is officially led by four “pillars”: the party’s secretary, the president, prime minister and speaker of the house.
Phuc, 68, was ultimately responsible for offences committed by many officials, including two deputy prime ministers and three ministers, the government said.
“Fully being aware of his responsibilities before the party and people, he submitted an application to resign from his assigned positions, quit his job and retire,” it said in statement.
Phuc’s office could not immediately be reached for comment and it was not clear if a replacement has been chosen.
Vietnam has been rife with speculation he would be removed following January’s dismissal of two deputy prime ministers who served under him, as the party doubles down on a “blazing furnace” anti-corruption drive led by its powerful long-serving chief, Nguyen Phu Trong.
Last year, 539 party members were prosecuted or “disciplined” for corruption and “deliberate wrongdoings”, including ministers, top officials and diplomats, according to the party, while police investigated 453 corruption cases, up 50% from 2021.
Trong earlier this month said the party was “more determined” and “more effective and methodical” in its approach, and vowed to deliver results.
IMPACT UNCERTAIN
Opinions vary on the impact of the anti-graft drive on investment and policy.
Le Hong Hiep of the Vietnam Studies Programme at the Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute said the purge could pave the way for cleaner more capable leaders to rise.
“As long as the leadership reshuffles do not lead to radical policy changes, their impact on the economy will also be limited,” Hiep posted on his Facebook account.
However, Ha Hoang Hop, a senior visiting fellow at the same institute, said Phuc’s demise and uncertainty over the impact of the crackdown could unnerve investors.
“This could lead Vietnam to a time of instability that would worry foreign friends and investors,” he said.
Phuc’s resignation requires approval from the legislature, which sources on Monday said would hold a rare extraordinary meeting this week, adding to expectation that Phuc’s fate had been sealed.
Phuc, who was known in Vietnam for his friendly approach and love for the national soccer team, was once tipped as a future party General Secretary, the state’s most prestigious job.
As prime minister from 2016 to 2021, he oversaw an average 6% annual economic growth for Asia’s burgeoning manufacturing powerhouse and helped further a liberalisation drive that included trade deals with the European Union and Pacific powers.
Despite his downfall, the government on Tuesday praised his achievements, particularly his pandemic response.
“He has made great efforts in leading, directing and administering the COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, achieving important results,” it said.
Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor and Martin Petty
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Live updates: China’s Xi Jinping unveils Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee leaders
Xi Jinping unveiled his top leadership team today, filling it with close allies from his inner circle — and sidelining those outside his political orbit, including premier Li Keqiang.
But a different figure took the spotlight yesterday, at the end of the 20th Party Congress — former top leader Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor, who was unexpectedly led out of the room during the closing ceremony.
Hu, 79, was seated directly next to Xi on stage when he was approached by two men. They spoke briefly, with Hu appearing initially reluctant. Hu eventually stood, escorted by the two men from his seat, with one holding his arm.
On his way out, Hu was seen to gesture to Xi and say something to the leader. He then patted Premier Li — an ally and former protege of Hu — on his shoulder. Both Xi and Li appear to have nodded; it was not clear if Xi spoke.
“We really have not seen any kind of disruption to the proceedings like this pretty much ever, as far as I can recall,” said Victor Shih, an expert on elite Chinese politics at the University of California San Diego.
The circumstances around his departure were not immediately clear, and CNN was censored on air in China when reporting on Hu’s exit.
The dramatic moment has not been reported in state-run Chinese-language media or discussed on Chinese social media, where such conversation is highly-restricted — but it set off a firestorm of speculation overseas, with some analysts suggesting it could be a power play on Xi’s part.
Hu held the role of China’s top leader from 2003 to 2013, presiding over a comparatively more open and economically integrated era. Hu oversaw China’s landmark 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and a decade of double-digit economic growth.
Hu was never as powerful as Xi is now — owing in part to the balancing influence of multiple party factions and party elders, including his predecessor Jiang Zemin.
Hu was associated with a faction connected to the Communist Youth League, a grouping whose influence has diminished considerably during Xi’s rule.
State media breaks silence: On Saturday night, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua wrote on its English-language Twitter account that Hu “insisted on attending the closing session of the Party’s 20th National Congress, despite the fact that he has been taking time to recuperate recently.”
“When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue for a rest. Now, he is much better,” Xinhua wrote.
Twitter is banned in China. To date, Xinhua has not posted the statement on their website or Chinese-language social media.
And many experts remain doubtful. Shih pointed out after Hu cast his vote for the new lineup of the Central Committee, he had sat down “in a pretty stable manner” — whereas if he’d been feeling ill, staff could have “whisked him away and given him medical care” right after the vote.
China’s Xi Claims Third Term as Communist Party Leader
Xi Jinping,
China’s most powerful leader in decades, stamped his authority by claiming a third five-year term as Communist Party chief and declining to elevate a clear potential successor.
Mr. Xi emerged first as China’s new seven-man leadership strode onto a red-carpeted dais inside Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Sunday, following a closed-door conclave of roughly 370 senior officials that finalized the membership of the party’s top decision-making bodies.
The line up of the new Politburo Standing Committee, the inner sanctum of power in China, was dominated by Mr. Xi’s allies and protégés, though none of them with the combination of age and experience that would mark them out as a viable successor.
Mr. Xi, 69 years old, received a third term as the party’s general secretary, the government-run Xinhua News Agency said, citing the outcome of a Central Committee vote. While the party doesn’t set term limits on its top political office, Mr. Xi is breaking with the decadelong cycle set by his predecessor, who served two five-year terms as party chief.
The new Politburo Standing Committee lining up before the media on Sunday.
Photo:
TINGSHU WANG/REUTERS
The outcome reinforced Mr. Xi’s status as paramount leader, despite simmering public resentment over his zero-tolerance Covid policies and management of China’s sluggish economy. The lack of a clear successor also suggests that Mr. Xi may seek to extend his rule beyond his third term, which ends in 2027.
Mr. Xi is set to become the third-longest-serving occupant of the party’s top political office. He would trail only
Mao Zedong,
who was party chairman for more than three decades, and
Jiang Zemin,
who served as general secretary for 13 years over 2½ terms, and stayed on as the chairman of the party’s Central Military Commission for roughly two more years. Deng Xiaoping, China’s paramount leader from the late 1970s till his death in 1997, never held office as the titular party chief.
Mr. Xi is also poised to take a third term as China’s head of state in the coming spring. He made this possible in 2018, when he scrapped constitutional limits that prevented the president from serving more than two consecutive five-year terms. The presidency is a largely ceremonial post, with Mr. Xi’s authority stemming primarily from his roles as general secretary and chairman of the military commission.
Write to Keith Zhai at keith.zhai@wsj.com and Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Former Chinese President Hu Jintao unexpectedly led out of Communist Party congress as leader Xi Jinping looks on
Former Chinese President Hu Jintao was unexpectedly led out of Saturday’s closing ceremony of the Communist Party congress in a dramatic moment that disrupted the highly choreographed event. State media said late Saturday that Hu was “not feeling well” when he was escorted out, but was doing “much better” after getting some rest.
The frail-looking 79-year-old seemed reluctant to leave the front row of proceedings at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, where he was sitting next to President Xi Jinping.
A steward attempted to take a sitting Hu by the arm before being shaken off. The steward then tried to lift Hu up with both hands from under the armpits.
After an exchange of about a minute, in which Hu spoke briefly with Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, he was led out of the hall.
A seated Xi was filmed holding papers down on the desk as Hu tried to grab them.
Hu patted Li’s shoulder as he left, as most of his colleagues stared firmly ahead.
Reuters/Tingshu Wang
Later, state news agency Xinhua said on Twitter: “Xinhuanet reporter Liu Jiawen has learned that Hu Jintao insisted on attending the closing session… despite the fact that he has been taking time to recuperate recently.
“When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue for a rest. Now, he is much better,” Xinhua said.
The weeklong congress took place mostly behind closed doors, but Hu’s departure occurred shortly after journalists were allowed in to cover the closing ceremony.
Hu’s exit came just before the 2,300 delegates at the congress voted unanimously to endorse Xi’s “core” leadership position.
“Power politics on full display,” Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group consultancy, said on Twitter with a video showing Hu’s departure.
Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at Eurasia Group, said the incident could have followed an opposition to Xi “or simply an unfortunately timed senior moment.”
“Whether it was deliberate, or he was unwell, the effect is the same. Complete humiliation for the last generation of pre-Xi leadership,” tweeted analyst Alex White.
Search results for “Hu Jintao” on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo appeared to be heavily censored Saturday afternoon, with the most recent result dated Friday and posts limited to those of official accounts.
Xi is all but assured of being formally announced on Sunday as the party’s general secretary for another five years.
This will allow him to sail through to a third term as China’s president, due to be announced during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.
Since taking over from Hu a decade ago, Xi has become China’s most authoritarian leader since Mao Zedong.
Xi has crushed opposition to his rule inside the party, with many of his rivals jailed on corruption charges, and he has shown no tolerance for any form of public dissent.
Former Chinese President Hu Jintao unexpectedly led out of Communist Party congress as leader Xi Jinping looks on
Former Chinese President Hu Jintao was unexpectedly led out of Saturday’s closing ceremony of the Communist Party congress in a dramatic moment that disrupted the highly choreographed event. State media said late Saturday that Hu was “not feeling well” when he was escorted out, but was doing “much better” after getting some rest.
The frail-looking 79-year-old seemed reluctant to leave the front row of proceedings at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, where he was sitting next to President Xi Jinping.
A steward attempted to take a sitting Hu by the arm before being shaken off. The steward then tried to lift Hu up with both hands from under the armpits.
After an exchange of about a minute, in which Hu spoke briefly with Xi and Premier Li Keqiang, he was led out of the hall.
A seated Xi was filmed holding papers down on the desk as Hu tried to grab them.
Hu patted Li’s shoulder as he left, as most of his colleagues stared firmly ahead.
Reuters/Tingshu Wang
Later, state news agency Xinhua said on Twitter: “Xinhuanet reporter Liu Jiawen has learned that Hu Jintao insisted on attending the closing session… despite the fact that he has been taking time to recuperate recently.
“When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, accompanied him to a room next to the meeting venue for a rest. Now, he is much better,” Xinhua said.
The weeklong congress took place mostly behind closed doors, but Hu’s departure occurred shortly after journalists were allowed in to cover the closing ceremony.
Hu’s exit came just before the 2,300 delegates at the congress voted unanimously to endorse Xi’s “core” leadership position.
“Power politics on full display,” Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group consultancy, said on Twitter with a video showing Hu’s departure.
Neil Thomas, a senior China analyst at Eurasia Group, said the incident could have followed an opposition to Xi “or simply an unfortunately timed senior moment.”
“Whether it was deliberate, or he was unwell, the effect is the same. Complete humiliation for the last generation of pre-Xi leadership,” tweeted analyst Alex White.
Search results for “Hu Jintao” on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo appeared to be heavily censored Saturday afternoon, with the most recent result dated Friday and posts limited to those of official accounts.
Xi is all but assured of being formally announced on Sunday as the party’s general secretary for another five years.
This will allow him to sail through to a third term as China’s president, due to be announced during the government’s annual legislative sessions in March.
Since taking over from Hu a decade ago, Xi has become China’s most authoritarian leader since Mao Zedong.
Xi has crushed opposition to his rule inside the party, with many of his rivals jailed on corruption charges, and he has shown no tolerance for any form of public dissent.
China’s Xi Jinping Moves to Extend Rule as Top Communist Party Rivals Retire
China’s Communist Party set the stage for its leader, Xi Jinping, to extend his rule into a second decade, nudging his rivals into retirement and positioning his loyalists for promotion into the top echelons of power.
Delegates to a twice-a-decade party congress, concluded Saturday, also reaffirmed Mr. Xi’s stature as the party’s “core” leader and enshrined his policies as part of the party’s governing charter—such as building a more egalitarian economy and first-rate military, as well as his demands for more fighting spirit among the party’s nearly 97 million members.
The party “must more consciously uphold Comrade Xi Jinping’s stature as the core of the party center and the core of the entire party,” said the resolution to revise the party charter, which was approved unanimously by roughly 2,300 congress delegates at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
The delegates appointed a new Central Committee, comprising 205 full members and 171 alternates, which tellingly omitted some top officials seen as countervailing influences against Mr. Xi’s camp.
The most prominent absentees included Premier Li Keqiang, China’s No. 2-ranked leader, who has at times issued signals on economic policy that contradicted Mr. Xi’s views. Mr. Li’s omission from the new Central Committee indicates that he is retiring from the party’s top decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee.
China’s No. 4-ranked leader, Wang Yang, once seen as a contender to become the next premier, also wasn’t re-elected to the Central Committee. Two other members of the outgoing seven-man Politburo Standing Committee were also absent, though some political analysts have expected top lawmaker Li Zhanshu, 72, and Executive Vice Premier Han Zheng, 68, to step aside due to age.
Their departures clear the way for Mr. Xi’s allies and protégés to secure key party and state posts for the next five years. The Chinese leader is expected to take a third term as general secretary on Sunday, breaking from the 10-year leadership cycle that his predecessor had set.
Saturday’s proceedings were marked by a brief commotion when Mr. Xi’s predecessor, Hu Jintao, unexpectedly left the meeting venue, a rare departure from highly choreographed proceedings at elite party conclaves.
Media footage showed the 79-year-old Mr. Hu, who was general secretary from 2002 to 2012, being helped off his chair on the congress dais, where he occupied a seat next to Mr. Xi. The footage showed Mr. Hu seemingly reluctant or unable to stand up when an aide tried to lift him off his chair. Mr. Hu then exchanged words with the incumbent leader and gave a pat to Premier Li before walking off the dais, accompanied by two men.
It wasn’t clear why Mr. Hu left or where he went. Chinese state media hadn’t mentioned the incident as of Saturday afternoon. China’s State Council didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The composition of the new Central Committee as well as the party’s top disciplinary commission, also elected Saturday, suggest that the current Guangdong party chief, Li Xi, is likely to become Mr. Xi’s next anticorruption czar. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week that Mr. Li, who once worked as a secretary to a revolutionary veteran with close ties to Mr. Xi’s family, is likely to join the party’s top leadership and lead the disciplinary commission.
The new Central Committee will convene Sunday to choose the next Politburo, which most recently comprised 25 members, and its elite Standing Committee.
The next Standing Committee is likely to be packed with Mr. Xi’s allies, the Journal reported this week. They include Shanghai party boss Li Qiang, a front-runner to become premier next spring, and Ding Xuexiang, Mr. Xi’s chief of staff, who is positioned to become executive vice premier.
Top party theorist Wang Huning and anticorruption czar Zhao Leji are likely to join Mr. Xi as the only members of the current Standing Committee to get another term in the top leadership, though both are likely to take new portfolios, the Journal reported previously.
The new Central Committee will convene Sunday to choose the next Politburo.
Photo:
wu hao/Shutterstock
The share of seats that Xi allies occupy in the next leadership will offer clues on how much clout the Chinese leader can exert in pursuing his priorities. Analysts say Mr. Xi isn’t likely to designate any potential successors, since doing so would undermine his own authority.
Top state positions, including the next premier and other ministerial roles, won’t be finalized until China’s annual legislative session next spring.
Some of Mr. Xi’s top lieutenants also stepped down from the Central Committee on Saturday, including Vice Premier Liu He, 70, and China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, 72. This means both men, who were expected to retire, are vacating their Politburo seats.
The congress put their likely replacements in position to step up. He Lifeng, the 67-year-old head of China’s state economic-planning agency, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, 69, were among the 205 officials named as full members of the new Central Committee, paving their way to join the Politburo on Sunday.
Write to Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com and Keith Zhai at keith.zhai@wsj.com
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