Big personnel moves in the Chinese Communist Party in recent days
New provincial leaders in Anhui, Shandong, Xinjiang & Zhejiang
And a former Minister of Justice is purged
These moves show Xi Jinping further consolidating power before the 20th Party Congress next fall (1/10)
Li Ganjie 李干杰 (56) is the new Party Secretary of Shandong
Promoted from Governor of Shandong, a post he was "parachuted" into from Minister of Environment last April
Politburo contender. Youngest provincial PS & part of "Tsinghua clique" of grads of Xi's alma mater (2/10)
Zhou Naixiang 周乃翔 (59) is the new Governor of Shandong
Level-up promotion from Party Secretary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation
Worked 35+ years in native Jiangsu, inc under Xi allies Cai Qi & Li Qiang
Will upgrade to a full Central Committee seat (3/10)
Zheng Shanjie 郑栅洁 (59) is the new Party Secretary of Anhui
Promoted from Governor of Zhejiang, a level-up role he only got last September
Worked in Xiamen when Xi was Fujian Governor 99-02 (Xi was Xiamen deputy mayor 85-88)
Will win at least a Central Committee seat (4/10)
Wang Hao 王浩 (58) is the new Governor of Zhejiang, replacing Zheng
Level-up promotion to ministerial rank from Party Secretary of Xi'an city
Previously was PS of Tangshan and Yantai and worked 35 years in his native Shandong
Will win a Central Committee seat (5/10)
Erkin Tuniyaz (艾尔肯·吐尼亚孜) (59) is the new Governor of Xinjiang (called the "chairman" 主席)
Level-up promotion to ministerial rank from Vice Governor of Xinjiang
Extends a run of Uyghur governors in Xinjiang since 1979
Will upgrade to a full Central Committee seat (6/10)
Fu Zhenghua 傅政华 (66) was put under investigation by the CCP's discipline watchdog
Second 19th Central Committee member investigated after Liu Shiyu in 2019
Fu worked the Zhou Yongkang case in 2013 but his star was already waning as Minister of Justice from 2018-2020 (7/10)
Some thoughts on these personnel moves:
Working under Xi, under a Xi ally, or having another Xi connection remains a great way to get promoted!
Despite economic wobbles, Xi remains large and in charge of the CCP
Partly due to his deep clean of the security apparatus (8/10)
Some recently promoted politicians appear in a piece I did for @MacroPoloChina earlier this year that analyzed all of the provincial leadership promotions in 2020 (9/10)
John Kerry met via video with Han Zheng, China's 7th-ranked leader on the Politburo Standing Committee
That this meeting occurred is a mild positive sign for China-US climate cooperation on COP26
Han is far more senior than Kerry's other interlocutors, FM Wang Yi & Xie Zhenhua
BUT there's still a lot of tension and risk
Han was more restrained than Wang Yi on climate cooperation requiring better US-China relations
Yet he said cooperation "must be premised on trust" & the US should "create a favorable atmosphere"
So Beijing is putting pressure on
Still, Beijing will act in its interests, and it is interested in fighting climate change and bolstering its geopolitical position through climate leadership
So China is unlikely to blow up COP26 over US-China ties, unless the US tries to isolate China
Xi's hardline politics & power centralization have alienated CCP "liberals" and serious people have made brave dissents (Ren Zhiqiang, Xu Zhangrun, Cai Xia)
BUT there is little evidence of “backlash” in the 370-member Central Committee “selectorate” (3/) macropolo.org/digital-projec…