It was the only interruption in one of the most precisely choreographed events in China:

the country’s former top leader, Hu Jintao, was suddenly got out the closing ceremony of the Chinese Communist Party Congress, which is held twice a decade.

The congress, where China’s next leaders are named, is the most important political event for a control-obsessed ruling party.

Every detail, whether it’s the outcome of your choices or how the waiters serve the tea, is planned.

Nothing unexpected happens.

Nothing is allowed without a script.

Except this year, it happened.

the surroundings 2,000 delegates the congress had just voted for the prestigious central committee of the party.

Hu, who seemed reluctant to leave, was then led out of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing by two men.

The moment, captured on video by reporters who had been allowed into the room minutes earlier, sparked wild questions and speculation.

Was Hu, 79, suffering from health issues, as Chinese state media would later report?

Or was he being purged in a dramatic spectacle by the current Chinese leader, Xi Jinpingfor the world to see?

“It was an incredible episode, even during the Mao period you didn’t see a dramatic collapse of Congress like this,” said Victor Shih, a China policy scholar at the University of California, San Diego.

The world may never know the answer, given the absolute secrecy surrounding China’s high politics.

But a deconstruction of the video sequences provides Additional Details and the context at the time thus scrutinized.

In the minutes before Hu is taken away, he appears to be reaching for a document on the table, presided over by top party leaders and retired elders.

The man on his left, Li Zhanshu, the now outgoing No. 3 of the party, intervenes quickly and covers him with a red file.

He then slips the document and speaks into Hu’s ear.

It is unclear what the document was, but all officials appeared to have papers.

A photo of one of the pages, taken later, appears to show it was a list of names, with the words “central committee”.

The congress was about to announce the new Central Committee, which would make it clear that Xi had replaced the moderates in favor of the loyalists.

Historically, senior party leaders and retired elders have a great influence on the selection.

Delegates had yet to vote on amendments to the party’s constitution, approving Xi’s report on the previous five years’ progress, or a report on internal party discipline.

The amendments, later revealed, reaffirmed Xi’s importance as a “core” Match.

Previous party meetings have been the scene of political maneuvering and humiliation of former leaders.

In 1959, the party adopted officially a resolution denouncing Peng Dehuai, a high-ranking military officer, after criticizing Mao Zedong’s economic policies.

During the Cultural Revolution, many leaders, including Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, were publicly purged or humiliated.

But those moments predate the internet age and were clearly intentional.

It’s far from clear that Hu’s departure was planned, and many analysts have warned against speculation.

The apparent chaos of the following moments led many to read the scene as unscripted.

1. Xi looks to one side of the room.

Xi is then approached by an assistant, who approaches him and touches a piece of paper.

The assistant leans in to say something to Hu, who had been watching the previous exchange out of the corner of his eye, apparently listening.

2. Under Xi’s gaze, the assistant grabs hold of Hu’s right arm, as if trying to pull him out of his seat.

Hu withdraws his arm. The man attempts to lift the former top leader from behind, under both arms, but again fails.

3. Hu then grabs the paper in front of Xi, which is held by the Supreme Leader.

4. When the assistant finally manages to persuade Hu to get up from his chair, Li, the official number 3, half rises from his seat and seems to move to get involved in the situation. Another official, Wang Huning, then number one of the party.

5 Leader: Pull Li down.

Li and Wang represent a changing of the guard at the height of power in China:

the Politburo Standing Committee which appeared the following day.

Li had reached retirement age and was leaving. Wang is the party’s main theoretician and has served as an ideological adviser to current and former leaders; He was promoted during this congress to position number 4 and is considered close to Xi.

With the Politburo Standing Committee full of allies,

Xi will face little resistance to his agenda, which includes bolstering national security and reshaping the world order to better suit Beijing.

None of the new leaders have the experience or are young enough to be considered possible Xi’s successors.

5. As the two aides begin to drag Hu away from his seat, the top leader stops to say something to Xi.

Xi nods briefly, not fully turning to look at him.

Hu then pats Li Keqiang, the Chinese Premier, on the shoulder.

Li also nods, but doesn’t fully turn around either.

The prime minister has long been seen as an ally and protege of Hu.

He rose through the party ranks in part through his leadership roles in the Communist Youth League, a party organization Hu once led.

At least two other people seated at the front table have long-standing ties to Hu.

Wang Yang and Hu Chunhua, the party’s outgoing No. 4 and Chinese Vice Premier, were also affiliated with the Communist Youth League.

The new composition of senior civil servants which was unveiled the following day excluded these three so-called proteges of Hu, breaking with the tradition of balancing the different factions of the ruling party.

6. As Hu is escorted out of the room, he walks past 19 other senior party officials seated at the same long table.

Virtually none of them indicate anything unusual is going on.

Some are deep in conversation.

Most look straight ahead.

Wu Guoguang, a professor at the University of Victoria in Canada who served as an adviser to a former Chinese premier, said he did not want to speculate on what happened.

But he said he was stunned by the cold reaction from the officials.

“This is Hu Jintao, the former top leader of your party and a man who gave many of you political opportunities.

And how do you deal with it now?

Wu said in a podcast interview with New York Times columnist Li Yuan.

“This incident demonstrated tragic reality of Chinese politics and the fundamental lack of human decency within the Communist Party.

After Hu left, the closing ceremony took place and his empty front row seat was the only reminder of the hiatus.

For most people in China, the whole episode might never have happened.

Chinese censors limited search results for Hu’s name on social media to posts from official accounts, none of which mentioned his departure.

The state broadcaster’s news program that night showed footage of Hu voting, then of his empty seat later in the ceremony, without any explanation.

On Saturday evening, Xinhua, the state news agency, offered the first official acknowledgment of his departure, writing on Twitter that Hu “didn’t feel well” and had been taken to rest.

“Now he’s much better,” the post read.

But Twitter is blocked in China, and neither Xinhua no other official media has published a similar explanation inside China’s internet firewall, further fueling speculation about the incident.

Regardless of what happened, the symbolism was unequivocal.

A former Supreme Leader, historically the only person with the stature to challenge a current one, has been ushered offstage.

This left only one man in the spotlight:

Xi, about to begin his third term, has been China’s most powerful leader in decades.

Keith Bradsher contributed reporting.

circa 2022 The New York Times Society

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