The Nikkei Asia report says that Xi’s decision to skip the G20 meeting is an attempt to avoid losing face. No 2 in the party hierarchy, he is in charge of the economy. The Chinese president’s anger left Premier Li Qiang shaken. Am I to blame,” he asked, according to the report. “I’ve spent the last decade tackling them but they remain unresolved. Xi complained that the problems that plague China were because of the earlier leadership and told his aides to resolve them. He held a meeting with his close aides and reportedly pointed fingers at three predecessors, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang, and Hu. The Chinese president did not expect the criticism. ReutersĪlso read: G20 Summit: What Xi and Putin’s absence means for India China is facing an economic slowdown and Xi Jinping was reportedly reprimanded by party elders over the economic and social turmoil in the country. We cannot have more turmoil, the elders pointed out. The gist of the message was that if the political, economic and social turmoil continues without any effective countermeasures being taken, the party could lose public support, posing a threat to its rule, reports Nikkei Asia. The country has reasons to worry and the Communist Party seniors conveyed this to the current leadership, including Xi, in a face-to-face meeting in Beidaihe. Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang has been ousted from the post for unknown reasons. And not all is well within the political circles. Two top Rocket Force generals were fired. The military is also mired in controversy. The real estate crisis continues and youth unemployment is surging. Its exports and imports both slumped in August as twin pressures of sagging overseas demand and weak consumer spend hit businesses. The country is facing an economic slowdown, which means it is no longer on the way to becoming the world’s largest economy. The turmoil in China has left party elders concerned. The senior party members reportedly met ahead of the Beidaihe gathering to summarise their opinions before conveying them to the current leaders, according to Nikkei Asia. Leading the veterans was Zeng Qinghong, former vice president and a close aide to Jiang. This came despite the absence of prominent party leaders like former president Jiang Zemin who passed away last November, and Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintao, who has kept a low profile after he was unceremoniously removed from the Great Hall of the People at the party’s national congress last October. He was reprimanded in a way they had not until now, the report says. It felt “significantly different” from the earlier 10 meetings that have taken place since Xi took charge as general secretary of the party in 2012, reports Nikkei Asia.Īt this year’s gathering, the Chinese president reportedly got a dressing down from retired party elders. Like everything linked to politics in the country, this closed-door conclave is always a secret. It is an annual gathering of incumbent and retired leaders of the Chinese Communist Party. Was Xi Jinping pulled up by party elders?Ī report in Nikkei Asia points to a meeting held at the Beidaihe seaside resort in China’s Hebei province.

Secret outlast