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by roenxi 1324 days ago
It is a reminder how opaque Chinese politics is that a former Politburo Standing Committee member can be dragged off stage without comment. Imagine trying to do that to Trump or Obama!

Between purge and medical emergency, a purge of some sort seems more likely since the censors got involved. If it wasn't for show it'd be weird to do it in the middle of the public show too. It'd be a very powerful demonstration if that is what it was intended to be.
2 comments
tunap 1324 days ago
>dragged off stage

Easy on the hyperbole. It is extremely odd, and likely he was removed against his own volition, but he also could have been an 80yo man having a moment of confusion. Eg: Trying to take Xi's papers while the man on his left was handing Hu's folder to the 'Aide'.

It is curious we don't see the minutes leading up to the event. I've looked for the entire broadcast(after foreign media allowed in) and have only found the one version that begins after they were already trying to get him out of the chair.

Anyone have a link to an uncurated video containing the moments before the 'Aides' showed up?

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throwawayjdej 1324 days ago
https://youtu.be/ZBG2bD-TE9g
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tunap 1324 days ago
That is better by 1.5 minutes preceding the prior footage, but the commotion has already commenced when this video starts. Curiously, probably circumstantial, Hu reaching for Xi's paper has been omitted from this video.

Edit: Despite all the foreign media present, we are only seeing clips. Has the entire event been posted online?

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eternalban 1324 days ago
The US equivalent would be getting booted off of Twitter & denied friendly access via press.

Hu was apparently upset that the list of candidates was not what he had expected, since the session was to hold a simple yes/no to the entire list.

He wanted to check his list against Xi's list which is why he kept reaching for it. Apparently even his son was booted off along with various allies, like vice-premier of China. It seems it was indeed a surprise to Xi and company & a snap decision by Xi to remove Hu was made.

Lei's real talk on YT is an informed resource by a Chinese critic of CPC. NYTimes article today seems based on her (uncredited) work published earlier on YT:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDQ-M0WJRfo

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