Hu Jintao’s Exit from China’s Party Congress Causes a Stir

Mr. Xi has set the stage to extend his rule into a second decade, and on Saturday the Communist Party announced new names for some top spots as some of his rivals head toward retirement. The congress provides a rare vantage point to observe party elders, who have traditionally played a behind-the-scenes role in power-maneuvering, as 69-year-old Mr. Xi breaks with recent precedent and positions himself to extend his rule.

Midway through the otherwise carefully-choreographed closing session, Mr. Hu was helped out of his chair next to Mr. Xi and inexplicably led out of the hall. During the congress’s Oct. 16 opening session, Mr. Hu’s ashen look and gray mop of hair stood out, and to some China watchers it seemed to illustrate his faded relevance in the Xi era.

Footage shot by foreign media in the hall, which wasn’t included in the official China Central Television broadcast, showed Mr. Hu seemingly reluctant or unable to stand up when an aide tried to lift him off his chair. In the commotion, Mr. Xi leaned toward Mr. Hu and appeared to speak with him. Mr. Hu was ushered off the center dais, briefly looking back at Mr. Xi and patting outgoing Premier Li Keqiang on the shoulder as he departed.

It wasn’t clear why Mr. Hu left or where he went. The incident has gone unmentioned in Chinese state media coverage of the event. China’s State Council didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Twitter, Xinhua news agency suggested Mr. Hu’s issue was health related. In English, indicating the report was aimed at an international audience, the government-run agency said Mr. Hu “was not feeling well during the session” and left to rest in a room next to the meeting venue. “Now, he is much better,” the account said.

Mr. Hu’s decadelong tenure as party leader and president was notable for a collective leadership of China that Mr. Xi abandoned after taking power in 2012, though Mr. Hu isn’t known to have ever commented publicly on his successor’s political strategy.

He had been shown by CCTV voting on Saturday alongside other delegates, but commentary and video of his departure from the meeting hall couldn’t be found.

Retired party elders rarely appear in public, but they retain influence in China, and their presence at major party events can signal regime continuity. Mr. Jiang in particular had sometimes also been a counterweight to his successors, Mr. Hu and Mr. Xi, according to political analysts.

Mr. Jiang was present for the 2017 Communist Party congress and, like Mr. Hu, has an official overseer role, with a seat on a 46-member Presidium Standing Committee along with Mr. Xi, the party leader.

Mr. Jiang’s absence this year will surely fuel questions about his frailty. His American biographer,

Robert Lawrence Kuhn,

said rumors of Mr. Jiang’s “imminent demise continue”—as they have for several years.

Age may be the likeliest explanation for Mr. Jiang’s absence.

He also missed the Communist Party centenary in July 2021, and he last appeared in public during National Day celebrations in Beijing in October 2019, when his giant portrait was carried in a parade.

Victor Shih,

an expert on elite Chinese politics at University of California San Diego, noted by email that Mr. Jiang has needed assistance for some time. He also said Mr. Xi early in his tenure targeted military officials close to Mr. Jiang in his anticorruption crusade, leaving the former leader with little choice but to maintain a low profile.

At the party congress five years ago, Mr. Jiang provided a pointed break in the pageantry of cadres staring blankly ahead, as he used an oversize, illuminated magnifying glass to pore through pages of the party work report. During a three-hour address by Mr. Xi, Mr. Jiang also yawned and appeared to doze off.

Other notable absences at this year’s congress included former Premier

Zhu Rongji,

who turns 94 on Monday and is credited with putting China’s economy on a course toward opening to the world. Other no-shows were a pair of former Politburo Standing Committee members,

Wu Bangguo

and

Luo Gan,

both 81.

Attempts to gauge whether appearances by certain elders actually matter in Chinese officialdom is a reflection of how the party’s secrecy fuels rumors.

Aside from those Chinese officials who end up in prison, cadres typically dye their hair jet black, so Mr. Hu’s gray had already stirred talk, before his departure, that the color was a subtle signal that his time as a force in the party is over.

Mr. Hu’s “appearance suggests a very sedentary lifestyle, but it is unclear whether it is voluntary or not,” Mr. Shih said.

How elders clap, too, is watched for clues, such as in the case of an official who helped usher Mr. Jiang into retirement 20 years ago,

Li Ruihuan.

Mr. Li stood out on Oct. 16 for appearing to withhold applause as Mr. Xi entered the hall just in front of him.

“Li at this point has little influence in the government so his public display of dissatisfaction should be tolerated. He may not be allowed to appear in the next congress though,” Mr. Shih said.

One elder demonstrated his support for Mr. Xi with his presence at the Oct. 16 opening—staunch conservative Song Ping, who at age 105 is older than the party itself.