My thoughts on the Hu incident

Hu's health (Parkinson's disease and rumoured Alzheimer's) is a concern for the organisers of the Party Congress. This is not only a concern for him, but also for the smooth running of the congress (if Hu fainted or somehow lost control, as he was sitting next to Xi, it could have had some adverse effect on the "victory congress").

Hu was asked to leave before the live streaming began. But journalists had already entered and witnessed the shocking scene. Hu's footage was still shown on the evening's news 新闻联播, and if this had been a deliberate punishment or deterrent, Hu would have disappeared from the news.

Hu's name, along with Jiang's, has been blocked from search engines for many years, in what is seen as a form of reputation protection for the former leader (although I don't agree). This did not just happen yesterday.

// I made a mistake about 'sensitive phrases', I tried it and we can search their names on Baidu.

In the fuller video from AFP, it can be seen that it was actually his personal attendant that led away Hu, as well as Kong, the head of the Secretary Bureau, who is a key assistant to Xi and one of the coordinators of the congress. There is no dramatic episode of agents racking away Hu.

In the full video it can be seen that both Xi and Li Zhanshu express concern for Hu. Xi is clearly a little more reserved, but still with a smile on his face. Of course he quickly put his attention back into his own world.

The CCP would never expose its top-level struggles and divisions to the public and the media. Publicly humiliating a former top leader does not do Xi any favours, nor does Xi need to do so, he has already won an outright victory.

The apathy of other party colleagues is truly breathtaking. They are likely to be unaware of what is going on, fear and numbness keeping them from looking away. This is indeed undignified.

Politburo positions will not be decided at the last minute. Everyone on stage by then already knew the end.

You can't just believe what you want to believe. Political observation is not the art of imagination.