Sun Sets on Era of Collective Leadership in China

TODAY

28 July 2017

In a terse statement on Monday, state news agency Xinhua formally announced that Sun Zhengcai, former party secretary of the municipality, had been placed under investigation for “serious violations” of party regulations.

By cutting Mr Sun out from his succession plans so close to the 19th Party Congress, President Xi Jinping appears to have killed all hopes that an heir-apparent will emerge in the upcoming leadership transition.

Mr Sun’s sudden dismissal by the regime he had once been favoured to lead is startling.

Along with Guangdong party chief Hu Chunhua, Mr Sun is the only other Politburo member born in the 1960s. Given their seniority and age, the two had been seen as potential candidates to succeed Mr Xi come the 20th Party Congress in 2022.

… James Char is an associate research fellow with the China Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

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