China Party Meeting Ends With 33 Expulsions

China's Communist Party wrapped up its fifth plenum in Beijing on Thursday.

The meeting, which ran Monday through Thursday, confirmed the expulsion of 33 senior party members. Among those expelled were Zhang Youxia, formerly China's most senior military general, and Liu Jianchao, a senior diplomat previously tipped as a possible foreign minister.

Attendance was not full. Of the 376 full and alternate central committee members named in 2022, 279 attended. Many of the absentees are believed to be under investigation.

Joseph Torigian, a professor of Chinese studies at American University in Washington D.C., said the meeting signals Xi Jinping's preparation for the party congress next year amid wide speculation that Xi will seek a fourth term. "This is Xi Jinping setting up for the next party congress next year by ensuring that everybody is on the same page as him," Torigian said.

Neil Thomas, senior fellow on Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said the meeting reflects how much work Xi believes the party still needs to do. Thomas said the focus of the plenum suggests Xi is unlikely to take risk until he feels more comfortable with the party he leads. Thomas also said Americans should pay attention, because it affects the U.S. calculus on China's willingness to use force over Taiwan, the South China Sea and disputes with the U.S.

One figure rose through the reshuffling. General Zhang Shengmin, a key player in Xi's anti-corruption campaign, was promoted to the Politburo, which consists of more than 20 of the party's top officials. Thomas said his promotion reinforces the importance of anti-corruption work in the military. Zhang Fuhai, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, told reporters on Friday that 7.9 million individuals have been punished since the campaign began in late 2012, including more than 960 senior officials.

Torigian said Xi wants to keep party conviction steady from one generation to the next by convincing people to "put the Chinese Communist Party at the center of their lives and not their own selfish interests." Torigian said this topic is close to Xi's heart, on how a communist regime can "maintain its purity and not degrade and collapse" as other communist parties did in other countries. Torigian also said Xi has complained about excessive formalities and bureaucracy, which is party language for going through the motions, holding many meetings "but never actually achieving anything."

Full decisions from the meeting, and perhaps deliverables, are expected to be published in coming days. Additional research by Jasmine Ling was conducted in Beijing.