Xi Jinping in Hong Kong: what the Chinese presidents entourage tells us about Beijings thinkin

Together, they represent Beijing’s jurisdiction over Hong Kong’s administration, defence, diplomacy and legal affairs, according to Professor Xie Maosong, a senior fellow of the Taihe Institute and a senior researcher at the National Institute of Strategic Studies at Tsinghua University.

Ding and Xu are members of the 25-strong Politburo – the party’s top echelon of power.

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Shen and Wang, as Central Committee members, are one rank below, with Wang also being a State Councillor. Xia retired from the Central Committee in 2017 but was appointed to lead the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office in 2020, to the great surprise of many observers.

“President Xi himself is the top party, state and military leader. Like his previous Hong Kong trip in 2017, all the major national organs have top representatives in the entourage, with Xia Baolong representing both the HKMAO and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference’s National Committee [of which Xia is a vice-chairman],” Xie said.

“That is a clear sign of Beijing’s determination to continue to exercise its overall jurisdiction on Hong Kong.”

The jobs of those who made up the entourage are similar to five years ago – albeit with different personnel, as most of the officials who accompanied the president last time have either retired or are now heading to their retirement.

Ding, the president’s chief of staff, is the only official who joined the presidential entourage in 2017. He then served as the deputy to Li Zhanshu, who was elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee later that year and became the chairman of the National People’s Congress in 2018.

Li, 71, ranks third in the party power hierarchy but is expected to step down at the 20th national party congress in October after reaching the retirement age.

Ding, who has accompanied the president for almost all important events in recent years, is widely regarded as a rising star at age 59. He is tipped to be on track for a promotion at this October’s party congress.

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Most of the accompanying officials took the cue and followed suit except for Ding, who maintained his perfect attire despite the heatwave, according to a witness at the site.

The appearance of foreign minister Wang, 68, and the NPC’s vice chairwoman Shen, 65, also struck observers.

In 2017, Xi was accompanied by Yang Jiechi – China’s most senior-ranking foreign affairs official and Wang Chen, the vice-chairman and secretary general of the NPCSC.

The pair, aged 72 and 71 respectively, are expected to retire in October and did not join the president’s party this time.

Wang Yi, as the second most senior official in charge of foreign affairs, is a consummate diplomat and is well-recognised internationally.

His age makes a promotion at the upcoming party congress less certain, but he is widely seen as a good candidate to replace Yang if the president decides to overlook the age limit.

In 2017, Xi brought with him Fan Changlong, the vice-chair of the central military commission – the supreme command of China’s military force. The president held an unprecedented inspection of the People’s Liberation Army garrison in Hong Kong five years ago, accompanied by Fan.

With Xu, now 72, expected to step down as well soon, it will be interesting to see who will be promoted to lead the world’s fastest developing military force.

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