Xi’s Trust Deficit

China is going through the motions of yet another purge in the top echelons of power and this time the removal of key leaders - both in the military and political hierarchy - is on an unprecedented scale.

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For four days, from 20 to 23 October around 315 of the highest-ranking Chinese Communist Party (CCP) cadres met in western Beijing to discuss the country's next five-year plan. The talks centred around China's technological self-sufficiency in the face of American restrictions, modernising its military and supporting domestic consumption to stabilise the economy. However, what eclipsed the whole exercise is the number of figures of the top leadership absent from the proceedings. Nearly 16 per cent of the 376 members and deputies of the CCP Central Committee, who were appointed in 2022, when the party was already under President Xi Jinping's absolute control, were missing. Two reasons can be attributed to the conspicuous absence - health issues or purges. The first can be ruled out since none of these leaders were reported to be sick. The second reason seems more likely considering the all-powerful Jinping rose to the pinnacle of power in 2012 by virtue of his anti-corruption drive that has already seen many heads roll under his rule.