From what I know he's personally close to Xi which is not a good precedent. I've barely even heard of him before this year.
Chinese Internal Politics
- Thread starter FairAndUnbiased
- Start date
Think tankies are a funny bunch but typically take the opposite of what they think and it's closer to the truth than what they state.
Haven't studied him, but I have heard that he is strong in science and tech development
If he becomes Premier then this means that he will basically be a Xi puppet. Without first becoming a Vice-premier and without having experience in the organisation and having his own organically-built powerbase in the State Council, it means that he will have to rely to Xi to establish his authority.
This means that he will be a Xi puppet. Traditionally, there has been a power split between the Party Chairman and the Premier. Obviously the PC is always stronger, but the Premier has always been a strong counterforce representing the bureaucrats.
Him becoming Premier it means that Xi has successfully neutered the Premier office and the State Council bureaucracy. This would point to an even bigger dominance of Xi in politics
That is to his credit. His stock just rose a lot in my book.
Which is why I'm hoping for a Hu Chunhua premiership. Not because Xi is bad but because a premier with political capital and new ideas of their own, yet a proven track record of working well with the PC, is never a bad thing. We are in dangerous waters externally and a steady hand at the top is needed - all parts of the top - are important.
Li Qiang actually has a great economic resume. He was governor of Zhejiang, Party Secretary of Jiangsu, and Party Secretary of Shanghai. Other than Guangdong, those are the three critical international-facing economic nodes in China.
I wouldn't blame Li Qiang for Shanghai COVID. Could anyone else have done much better? Shanghai COVID was the result of going strict Zero-COVID after falling behind the infection curve.
If it's important to get Li Qiang State Council experience, they can always move him over now before he officially takes the Premiership next year at the NPC.
Li Qiang was Xi's chief of staff when Xi was Party Secretary of Zhejiang. Apparently he is held in high regard by western business institutions that've invested heavily into Shanghai.
Despite his performance managing the outbreak in Shanghai, bringing him onto the Standing Committee would serve as a signal to those in the West that aren't unhinged about decoupling that China is still open for business.
Despite his performance managing the outbreak in Shanghai, bringing him onto the Standing Committee would serve as a signal to those in the West that aren't unhinged about decoupling that China is still open for business.
Li Qiang seems to be fairly decent. He brought Tesla into Shanghai.
I don't blame him for the Shanghai lockdown debacle. He delayed locking down because he was following orders from the top. They wanted to find a way to exist with low-level COVID, without doing lockdowns. The experiment failed, but that's not Li's fault.
Li Qiang would get along better with Xi, which also probably helps with efficiency of decision-making.
Hu Chunhua would be better in that he's not originally a Xi loyalist and might thus maybe balance his power slightly. However, this is a moot point as there's nothing concrete that really balances Xi's power in the first place.
I don't blame him for the Shanghai lockdown debacle. He delayed locking down because he was following orders from the top. They wanted to find a way to exist with low-level COVID, without doing lockdowns. The experiment failed, but that's not Li's fault.
Li Qiang would get along better with Xi, which also probably helps with efficiency of decision-making.
Hu Chunhua would be better in that he's not originally a Xi loyalist and might thus maybe balance his power slightly. However, this is a moot point as there's nothing concrete that really balances Xi's power in the first place.
That's a resume for a vice premiership, not premier. Premier isn't just about economics, it is a political role in the end, and Hu Chunhua has the political credentials.