China cues start of leaders\u2019 secretive Beidaihe summer retreat<\/p>\n
While the retreat has historically provided an opportunity for\nserving and retired leaders to hold informal discussions and negotiate\nover policy and personnel, the \u201cscope for genuine bargaining has\nnarrowed\u201d, says an analyst.<\/p>\n
BEIJING: China\u2019s Communist Party appeared to kick off its annual\nclosed-door retreat in the seaside resort of Beidaihe, an informal\ngathering that perennially sparks rumours of power jostling among senior\ncadres and comes this year ahead of a major party conclave in October on\nparty governance.<\/p>\n
Beijing does not publicly confirm the gathering, but in a sign that\nit had begun, Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s chief of staff and close\naide Cai Qi on Monday (Aug 3) met with scholars in Beidaihe in northern\nHebei province, an appearance analysts say has in past years coincided\nwith the summer retreat.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistorically, the retreat has provided an opportunity for serving\nand retired leaders to hold informal discussions and negotiate over\npolicy and personnel,\u201d said Neil Thomas of the Asia Society Policy\nInstitute.<\/p>\n
But, with power increasingly concentrated within the party and in\nXi\u2019s hands, \u201cthe scope for genuine bargaining has narrowed\u201d, Thomas\nsaid.<\/p>\n
China has not officially documented the top leaders\u2019 meetings in the\ncoastal town, about one and a half hours east of Beijing by high-speed\nrail, since the formal practice of collective summer work sessions was\nabolished in 2003.<\/p>\n
State media has nonetheless said that summer visits to Beidaihe by\nserving and retired senior officials continued, allowing informal\ncontact, comparing the resort town to the US presidential retreat Camp\nDavid and Russia\u2019s Sochi.<\/p>\n
Beidaihe\u2019s state-run guesthouses, heightened security every summer,\nand proximity to Beijing have long made it a focal point for speculation\nover elite politics.<\/p>\n
Road closures, restrictions on private aircraft and watercraft \u2014\nincluding drones, paragliders, jet skis and speedboats \u2014 and a routine,\nroughly two-week gap in the usually near-daily official coverage of top\nleaders only add to that speculation.<\/p>\n
Xi last appeared in public during a Politburo group session on Friday\non modernising China\u2019s military.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe retreat is often China\u2019s \u2018silly season,\u2019\u201d said Ruby Osman, a\nsenior policy adviser at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe radio silence from leadership fuels rumours of political\ninfighting or elite coups.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is little public evidence that the speculation reflects active\ndivisions or a challenge to Xi\u2019s authority, analysts say.<\/p>\n
DISCIPLINE, PERSONNEL, ECONOMY<\/p>\n
More concrete issues are likely to dominate the party\u2019s agenda in the\nweeks ahead: preparations for October\u2019s meeting, the enforcement of\ninternal discipline, personnel management and economic pressures at\nhome.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeadership will be taking stock of a mixed year: Beijing has\nsuccessfully steadied the relationship with Washington, largely on its\nown terms, but faces mounting economic headwinds at home,\u201d Osman\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Xi has also signalled his intention to impose still stricter\ndiscipline on leadership ranks already thinned by a years-long\nanti-graft campaign, in an attempt to keep the broad authority vested in\nits cadres within tightly constrained parameters.<\/p>\n
A key October party conclave will centre on \u201cthe sustained\nadvancement of full and rigorous party self-governance\u201d, Beijing said on\nThursday, signalling that internal discipline will remain a central\npriority.<\/p>\n
Beidaihe may also offer officials an opportunity to gauge and align\nthemselves with Xi\u2019s priorities ahead of next year\u2019s 21st Party\nCongress, when a wider leadership reshuffle is expected, Thomas\nsaid.<\/p>\n
But questions over the gathering\u2019s continuing importance remain.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor decades, this was the single most consequential informal event\non the political calendar \u2026 the one retreat where the elders exerted\ninfluence,\u201d said Jean Christopher Mittelstaedt at the University of\nZurich.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, Xi has been very successful in pushing back the elders\u2019\ninfluence, so the retreat has lost importance in the last decade.\u201d<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/china-cues-start-of-leaders-secretive-beidaihe-summer-retreat-1785822618", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }