Two high-ranking Chinese Communist Party leaders failed to appear at the opening of China's most important annual political meetings on Wednesday. The absences come amid ongoing investigations and purges within the party's leadership ranks.
BEIJING – A pair of high-ranking Chinese Communist Party leaders were notably missing from Wednesday’s launch of China’s most significant annual political gatherings, as ongoing investigations continue to shake the party’s upper echelons.
General Zhang Youxia, who holds China’s top military position, was nowhere to be seen among the 23 members of the party’s politburo during the opening ceremony of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, according to eyewitness accounts. Also absent was Ma Xingrui, who previously served as the party’s leading official overseeing China’s western Xinjiang region.
Zhang, who also serves as vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, has been under official investigation since January. Meanwhile, Ma has remained out of public view since the end of October.
The absences highlight the continuing shake-up within China’s Communist Party leadership as officials face scrutiny in what observers describe as a significant purge of senior party members.
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