Top Tianjin official’s exit ‘may trigger Politburo power plays’
Huang Xingguo’s fall might start contest for seat at top table once thought to be his, analysts say
The toppling of acting Tianjin Communist Party boss and former Politburo contender Huang Xingguo could unleash a power struggle as forces vie for the coveted spot at the top ahead of next year’s reshuffle, analysts say.
Graft-busters announced late on Saturday that Huang, 61, was suspected of “serious violations of discipline”, a term that usually refers to corruption.
Huang’s fall means that a key municipality under the central government is simultaneously without a party chief and mayor for the first time since President Xi Jinping took power in 2012.
Huang was made mayor of Tianjin in 2007 and took on the extra role of acting party boss in 2014 but he had not yet been permanently appointed – an unusually long time in provincial politics.
Before falling under suspicion, Huang was seen as a contender for the party’s 25-member Politburo at next year’s party congress.
Political pundits said cadres would be eyeing the Tianjin vacancy as a stepping stone to the Politburo.
