Who is going to be the new Chief of Staff to President Xi Jinping?

Thought for the Day:

Who is going to be the new Chief of Staff to President Xi Jinping?

China’s new top leadership changes may have been settled but not all the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place.

The most intriguing piece is about the new Chief of Staff to Xi. Like the White House chief of staff, Xi’s chief of staff also carries great power and influence. Moreover, Xi’s chief of staff has the inside track on further elevation.

Li Zhanshu, chief of staff to Xi for his first term, became the third ranked leader and chairman of China’s legislature, National People’s Congress (NPC), during Xi’s second term.

Ding Xuexiang, the chief of staff during Xi’s second term, was elevated last month to become a sixth-ranked member on the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) and is set to become an executive vice premier to be confirmed at NPC’s annual session in March next year.

Since Xi unveiled the composition of the 7-member Politburo Standing Committee and 24-member Politburo on October 23, packed with his allies, he has moved quickly to announce some of their portfolios. For instance, Chen Jining, former mayor of Beijing, has become the party secretary of Shanghai, China’s most important financial and manufacturing hub. On others, he will have to wait for technical reasons. For instance, Li Qiang, former party secretary of Shanghai and now the second-ranked leader on the PSC, will have to wait for NPC’s confirmation as China’s next premier in March, just like Ding.

Curiously, he has not let it publicly known who will be his new chief of staff as this appointment is solely at his own discretion.

Speculation is rife that Wang Xiaohong, a career policeman and currently Minister of Public Security, is most likely to assume that important position.

It mainly stems from the fact that after the new leadership shake-up last month, Wang has been chosen to sit on the CCP’s powerful secretariat responsible for handling day to day party affairs.

The secretariat usually has seven members headed by a PSC member. The other six members usually include the minister of the United Front Work Department, the minister of the Organization Department, the minister of the Propaganda Department, the party secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affair Commission, a deputy head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and the chief of staff to the party leader.

On October 23, seven people have been named to the secretariat. Cai Qi, former party secretary of Beijing and currently a PSC member is the highest ranking member in the body.

Of the other six, only two member’s portfolios have not been made public -- Li Ganjie, party secretary of Shandong and Wang Xiaohong public security minister. Those two are supposed to take over either the powerful Organization Department responsible for personnel appointments or the office of the chief of staff.

Given the power and high ranking of the Organization Department, it is usually headed by a Politburo member. Li is a Politburo member. Wang is merely a member of the Central Committee, which is one ranking lower than the Politburo.

Hence the rumor that Wang is most likely to become the new chief of staff. Come to think of this, it makes sense. Wang, a career policeman, held various senior policing roles in Fujian during the 1990s and 2000s when Xi worked in the southern province.

As Xi repeatedly stressed “national security” in his landmark political report to the party’s 20th congress last month, the composition of the new secretariat has reflected that priority. For the first time in decades, the secretariat has three members with deep background in law and security.

In addition to Wang, Chen Wenqing, formerly China’s chief spy and minister of the state security, has become the new head of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the highest body in charge of law and order. Liu Jinguo, a deputy head of CCDI, held various senior policing positions at the Ministry of Public Security.

But given the fact that Xi has broken all previous norms and unwritten rules over leadership changes, it will remain unclear until the state media reports identify his new chief of staff.

Unlike the cabinet, the party does not usually announce personnel changes at the ministerial level.  People will know those changes only when the state media begin to report about public activities in which those officials are addressed with their new titles.