Former President Hu Jintao leaves the closing ceremony of the Communist Party of China Congress.
The frail-looking 79-year-old was sitting next to President Xi Jinping when officials approached him and took him away. No explanation was given.
After a week-long party convention, the Communist Party is set to confirm that 69-year-old Xi Jinping will reach a historic third term.
Held every five years in Beijing, the event cemented his position as China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
Hu Jintao, who served as president from 2003 to 2013, was on stage when two officials approached him. He said something to Xi Jinping who nodded.
Hu was then escorted from the Great Hall of the People.
According to the BBC’s China correspondent Stephen McDonnell, the footage of Hu being asked to leave the stage has garnered worldwide attention as people try to figure out what happened.
So far, he adds: Many questions, no answers from the Chinese government.
A central committee of 205 senior party cadres was elected early on Saturday. I authorize a rubber-stamped amendment to the party’s constitution that upholds Xi Jinping’s ideas as principles that will guide China’s future.
In his opening speech at parliament last Sunday, he hailed the crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement as “a transition from chaos to governance”. We reaffirmed China’s rights.
Xi Jinping is currently the general secretary of the Communist Party, the president, and the head of the military. He is also called Paramount or Supreme Leader.
On Sunday, I will formally approve my third term as secretary-general and announce my new leadership team.
In 2018, he abolished the two-term limit on presidents, paving the way for him to rule indefinitely.