00:00This is Suju Censor, reporting as usual, the 5th plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist
00:05Party is set for October in China.
00:07There are reports in China that further purges are highly likely.
00:12On the 3rd, Hong Kong Ming Pao reported that around 30 Central Committee members may be dismissed or expelled at
00:18the 5th plenary session of the 20th Chinese Communist Party Central Committee in October.
00:23If this prediction is correct, it would mean a rare large-scale personnel reshuffle in Chinese Communist Party history.
00:28The 20th Central Committee, which was formed at the 20th Party Congress in October 2022, was composed of a total
00:34of 205 Central Committee members.
00:37Since its launch, prominent figures like former Foreign Minister Qin Gang and former Defense Minister Li Shang-Fu have been
00:42removed from their posts, while investigations into top officials have broadened.
00:47If 30 more members are expelled, about 20% of Central Committee members will have lost their positions during their
00:52term.
00:53As the Central Committee is the main decision-making body of the Chinese Communist Party, a personnel change of this
00:58scale is seen as highly unusual.
01:00Ming Pao reports that in the past year, 19 Central Committee members, including two Politburo members, have been dismissed or
01:08lost their National People's Congress seats.
01:10Reports say their disciplinary actions will likely be finalized at this 5th plenary session.
01:14With former Party Congress Liaison Director Yu Jianchao already dismissed and other top military officials missing from public view and
01:22likely to be expelled, concerns are rising that the purge could expand further.
01:26In particular, since there are quite a few top military leaders who have effectively disappeared without any official announcement, some
01:32analysts believe that depending on the results of future investigations, the number of people expelled could exceed expectations.
01:37In China, there have been repeated cases where key officials stopped appearing in public for a long time, and only
01:42later was it announced that they were under investigation or had been disciplined.
01:45Therefore, it is difficult to rule out the possibility that a similar process will happen this time as well.
01:50Ming Pao reported that anti-corruption investigations and inspections of top officials in the party, government, and military are expanding.
01:57This mass expulsion is seen as leadership's effort to reduce political burdens and reorganize before next year's 21st Party Congress.
02:05Also, as such large-scale purges are carried out, President Xi Jinping's power is actually being strengthened.
02:10Even the factions that oppose cross-straight war are being purged, creating a situation where President Xi Jinping can really
02:15move things in the direction he wants.
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