While the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping was visiting Europe earlier this week, most of the members of the Standing Committee of the CCP’s political bureau went to local areas for “research.” China observers believe these are preparations for the long overdue Third Plenary Session of the CCP.
Xi returned to Beijing on May 11 after touring France, Serbia, and Hungary since May 5.
Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the CCP’s political bureau and director of the General Office of the CCP’s Central Committee, accompanied Xi on his trip to Europe.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Standing Committee went to different provinces for “research”, except Li Xi who was left in charge of the CCP’s compound in Beijing. According to official announcements, the CCP’s premier Li Qiang was in Xinjiang for research from May 7 to 9; Ding Xuexiang was in Dalian and Shenyang at the same time; Zhao Leji was in Henan from May 7 to 10; and Wang Huning was in Guangxi for research from May 6 to 8.
The Central Committee’s Third Plenary Session, which typically takes place in late October or early November the year after the CCP’s National Congress. However, the 20th Third Plenary Session has been notably absent since last fall.
Amid the outside world’s increasing speculation, the CCP announced on April 30 that the Third Plenary Session will be held in Beijing in July.
Wang He, a U.S.-based China affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times on May 11, “Why did it take so long to hold the Third Plenary Session of the CPC Central Committee? This is because there were huge differences and conflicts between the central and local governments. Now that they are preparing to hold the meeting in July, Xi Jinping needs to get an accurate picture of the local situations, and wants all members of the Standing Committee to go out for investigation and research to ensure that there are no complications at the CCP’s upcoming Third Plenary Session.”
High-profile Personnel Issues
Some observers believe that the high-profile personnel issues of former Foreign Minister Qin Gang and former Defense Minister Li Shangfu will be put on the agenda of the Third Plenary Session.Du Wen, a former CCP official who served as the CCP’s vice premier Hu Chunhua’s legal adviser, told The Epoch Times on May 11 that Qin Gang and Li Shangfu have been removed from their posts, but they are still members of the CCP and members of the Central Committee.
“If they are to be expelled from the Party and removed from the Central Committee, the decisions must be made at a Plenary Session. It is expected that the Third Plenary Session will complete the handling of them, and at the same time, new Central Committee members will be added at the Third Plenary Session,” he said.
However, Mr. Wang Juntao said that the Third Plenary Session was not about personnel issues. “The First Plenary Session of the Central Committee resolves the Party’s personnel issues, the Second Plenary Session resolves the government’s personnel issues, both of which almost solved all the [personnel] issues, and the Third Plenary Session will mainly resolve major policy issues (for the next five years).”
Mr. Wang Juntao believes that the main topic of the Third Plenary Session may still involve the so-called strategic task of creating “new productive forces”, a term recently put out by Xi.
China affairs commentator Wang Gong wrote in an article for “Sound of Hope,” that even if the Third Plenary Session is held in July as announced, it may not necessarily address the issues concerning Central Committee members who violated party discipline.
“Several Central Committee members who have been missing from the public view, including the former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, as well as Central Committee members Li Shangfu and Li Yuchao of the military, and Yuan Jie, an alternate member of the Central Committee of the Military Industry Department, may not be publicly expelled from the Central Committee. The outside world may not see the final decision of how they are being dealt with by the CCP top authorities at the Third Plenary Session.”
