bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

SCMP Reporters

The man once tipped to become President Xi Jinping’s successor, Guangdong party boss Hu Chunhua, is likely to become a vice-premier in March but his prospects of inclusion in the Communist Party’s top echelon of power, the Politburo Standing Committee, are fading, sources have told the South China Morning Post.
Meanwhile, Chongqing party boss Chen Miner, another rising star who is widely seen as the president’s protégé, is expected to win promotion to the 25-member Politburo but will probably not make it into the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, sources familiar with top-level party discussions said.


Hu is already a Politburo member while Chen is now a Central Committee member ¬-- one rank lower in the party hierarchy. The Politburo Standing Committee sits on top, making it the highest decision-making body in Chinese politics.
If Hu, 54, and Chen, 57, do not win promotion to the Politburo Standing Committee next week, after the party’s national congress concludes on Tuesday, it would contain no putative heir in the position to take over from Xi after he completes his second five-year term as party general secretary in 2022.
Another contender, 54-year-old former Chongqing party chief Sun Zhengcai, suffered a spectacular fall from grace this year. He was expelled from the party last month and is now facing criminal prosecution for corruption.

Such arrangements, if confirmed, will inevitably add to speculation that Xi plans to carry on beyond his second term. But sources said it was premature to draw such a conclusion.
Rather, they said, it reflected Xi’s dissatisfaction with the party’s present power transition mechanism. While it provides some certainty and stability, it also has some problems.
Leadership transitions in China have historically been a difficult and risky process. Mao Zedong changed his chosen successor three times, with the first two dying in controversial circumstances. Deng Xiaoping, after pushing aside Mao’s last pick, Hua Guofeng, ditched two of his own protégés before endorsing a third, Jiang Zemin.
Does Chinese leader Xi Jinping plan to hang on to power for more than 10 years?
Only in 2002 did the party leadership transition begin to have any resemblance to an institutionalised process. That year Jiang stepped down for Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor. Hu Jintao had been a Politburo Standing Committee member for 10 years by then, having been elevated to that position by Deng in 1992 as Jiang’s “designated successor”. Even then, Jiang only vacated the powerful chairmanship of the Central Military Commission two years later.


In 2012, Hu handed over all his party positions to Xi, who had been promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee in 2007 and became vice-president the following year. Xi publicly praised Hu’s “high ethics” for making a clean break possible.
Sources said that while the practice of having a “designated successor” waiting in the wings could give a sense of stability, it also put premature pressure on that person. Both Xi and Hu Jintao had to play the role of a cautious heir-apparent for years, taking care not to reveal too much of themselves or upstage their seniors.

“It also makes the heir-apparent an easy target,” one source said. “Other factions could set up traps to undermine him. People looking for advancement would seek to curry favour with him.”
There was a risk a strong candidate could end up competing with the incumbent leader for influence. A weak heir-apparent, on the other hand, would create openings that would encourage factional rivalry and jockeying for power.
“Sun Zhengcai’s case, and the timing of its revelation, is a strong indication that Xi wants to break away from the designated successor system and reform it,” the source said.
While details of Xi’s plan were not immediately clear, the general idea was to eventually choose a successor from several possible candidates in a bigger pool, based on their performance.


“Xi is in no hurry to settle on the issue for now,” the source said. “His priority and focus is how to make use of his second term to achieve his goals. A lot of things can happen in five years.”
The party’s 19th national congress opened on Wednesday and will close on Tuesday. The new party Central Committee it elects will have its first plenum meeting the following day and officially produce the new line-up for the Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee – thus completing the party’s leadership reshuffle.
The party leaders will then discuss and decide on personnel changes at the state level at the Central Committee’s second plenum in the spring, just ahead of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress in March, which will formally endorse the proposed changes.

Both Hu Chunhua and Chen are most likely to be in the 25-member Politburo when the new list is unveiled next Wednesday, but would have to wait until March to have their new government posts confirmed.
Hu Chunhua, who has been the party chief of Inner Mongolia and Guangdong, has already garnered rich experience at the provincial level, preparing him for the vice-premier role.
Chen has been praised for his work on poverty alleviation and innovation in his previous post of Guizhou party chief. He was transferred to Chongqing in July to steady the boat after Sun’s shock removal – a move seen by political pundits as a show of leadership confidence in Chen.


Why China’s Xi Jinping is unlikely to anoint a successor

Hu Chunhua and Chen Miner unlikely to win promotion to Communist Party’s top decision-making body

(FILES) This file picture taken on March 6, 2017 shows Chongqing Communist Party Secretary Sun Zhengcai (C) speaking during the Anhui province opening session as part of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. In the past five years, Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has steamrolled over 1.3 million crooked Communist Party officials. And it may just be getting started as the president foresees a "never-ending fight". / AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO / To go with China-politics-congress-corruption,FOCUS by Ben Dooley

(FILES) This file picture taken on October 18, 2017 shows Chinese President Xi Jinping delivering a speech at the opening session of the Chinese Communist Party's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. In the past five years, Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has steamrolled over 1.3 million crooked Communist Party officials. And it may just be getting started as the president foresees a "never-ending fight". / AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO / To go with China-politics-congress-corruption,FOCUS by Ben Dooley

Chen Min'er (C), secretary of the Chongqing Municipal Party Committee and member of the 18th Central Committee, attends the opening session of the Chinese Communist Party's five-yearly Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 18, 2017. President Xi Jinping declared China is entering a "new era" of challenges and opportunities on October 18 as he opened a Communist Party congress expected to enhance his already formidable power. / AFP PHOTO / WANG Zhao

Guangdong party secretary Hu Chunhua (left) chats with fellow Politburo member Meng Jianzhu at the opening session of the Communist Party's national congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

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China

Politics

Hu Chunhua and Chen Miner unlikely to win promotion to Communist Party’s top decision-making body


The man once tipped to become President Xi Jinping’s successor, Guangdong party boss Hu Chunhua, is likely to become a vice-premier but his prospects of inclusion in the Communist Party’s top echelon of power are fading, sources have told the South China Morning Post.


China's leadership reshuffle 2017: All articles

China's leadership reshuffle 2017

China's leadership reshuffle 2017: Big picture

Exclusive | Why China’s Xi Jinping is unlikely to anoint a successor

Hu Chunhua and Chen Miner unlikely to win promotion to Communist Party’s top decision-making body