The Chinese Communist Party’s twentieth National Congress in October 2022 affirmed an unprecedented third term for Xi Jinping as CCP general secretary and China’s paramount leader. While expected, this nevertheless represented a break from the norm of collective leadership and term limits established by Deng Xiaoping to prevent the rise of personality cults. More surprising, however, was the line-up put forward by Xi for his third administration. The heavyweights of the Communist Youth League affiliated with previous leader Hu Jintao, such as Li Keqiang, Wang Yang, and Hu Chunhua, were all removed from the Politburo ... (full story)