Former Chinese President Hu Jintao was unexpectedly led out of a major Communist Party ceremony on Saturday.
Footage posted online appears to show Hu, 79, seeming reluctant to leave the auditorium in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as he is escorted out by two stewards during the Communist Party Congress.
In the video, Hu, who was president from 2003 to 2013, was sitting beside Xi Jinping who appears to say something to his predecessor before he is led away.
The video, captured by AFP, shows stewards repeatedly trying to usher Mr Hu from his seat, drawing concerned looks from officials nearby.
What on earth is going on when the former leader of #China #HuJintao is told to leave after the first session? When you look at the footage it appears as if he doesn't want to go. What does he say to #XiJinping? What does he say to #LiKeqiang? https://t.co/jaoXztzn2M
— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) October 22, 2022
Looking distressed, he appeared to resist calls to leave as the stewards escorted him out, and even turned back to his seat at one point.
Hu patted former premier Li Keqiang’s shoulder as he left. His departure was not explained.
During the session, Li was effectively removed from the senior leadership. In brief closing remarks, Xi said the revision to the constitution "sets out clear requirements for upholding and strengthening the party’s overall leadership."
Li was among four of the seven members of the party’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee who were missing from its new 205-member Central Committee, which was formally elected at the closing session.
President Xi is expected to be confirmed for a third term by the congress later this week, breaking with decades of tradition and making him China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong.
The new central committee of about 200 senior party officials was elected shortly after 11am on Saturday, state media agency Xinhua reported, without disclosing a full list of members.
