On Oct. 23, the communiqué from the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) Fourth Plenum dispelled many rumors, likely leaving observers disappointed. What some expected to be a decisive showdown within the Party instead ended in a stalemate.
Xi Jinping retained all his titles but failed to promote loyalists to fill vacant seats. The Politburo shrank to 23 members with no replacements. The Central Military Commission (CMC) lost three members and did not appoint replacements. Zhang Shengmin’s promotion to CMC vice-chair was an insignificant adjustment at best. Figures from the Communist Youth League faction, such as Hu Chunhua and Wang Yang, did not return to the political center. Beijing’s “stalemate” now looks more like a deadlock.
