The spacing between seats in the first row of the 2025 national sports advanced units and individuals representatives' group photo is somewhat bizarre. (Video screenshot)
[People News] On November 9, 2025, political commentator Zhou Xiaohui published an article titled "No Cai Qi in the Group Photo, Xi Keeps Distance from Zhang Youxia," commenting on Cai Qi's absence from accompanying Xi Jinping at an important reception ceremony, as well as the bizarre seating arrangement between Xi Jinping and Zhang Youxia in the group photo.
The article states that according to CCP official media reports, on November 9, on the eve of the opening of the 15th National Games, Xi Jinping met in Guangzhou with representatives of national mass sports advanced units and individuals, as well as representatives of advanced collectives and individuals from the national sports system, and took a group photo with them. In addition to Zhang Youxia, those attending the meeting and group photo included Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress Li Hongzhong, Politburo member and Guangdong Provincial Party Secretary Huang Kunming, State Councilor Chen Yiqin, and Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wang Dongfeng.
Strangely, Cai Qi, a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and director of the Central Office, who had been accompanying Xi Jinping in Hainan and Guangzhou, was absent from this meeting and group photo.
The national mass sports advanced commendation activities have been held every four years since the 7th National Games in 1993. The reason it is called strange is that in the previous two similar activities, Xi's Central Office director had attended.
The article provides examples for comparison. For instance, on September 15, 2021, before the 14th National Games, Xi Jinping met in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, with the aforementioned sports system representatives and Chinese sports delegation athletes and coaches from the Tokyo Olympics, and took a group photo together. Attending the meeting and group photo were then-Central Office Director Ding Xuexiang, Military Commission Vice Chairman Xu Qiliang, and then-Guizhou Provincial Party Secretary Chen Yiqin.
Another example: On August 27, 2017, on the eve of the opening of the 13th National Games, Xi Jinping met in Tianjin with the aforementioned sports system representatives and delivered a speech. Attending the meeting and group photo were then-Political Bureau member and director of the Central Policy Research Office Wang Huning, then-Political Bureau member and vice premier Liu Yandong, Political Bureau member and Military Commission First Vice Chairman Xu Qiliang, Central Office Director Li Zhanshu, National People's Congress Vice Chairman Wang Chen, and National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Vice Chairman Lu Zhangong.
The article comments that since 2021 was during the pandemic, it is not surprising that fewer high-ranking officials accompanied him, but Central Office Director Ding Xuexiang did not absent himself. Compared to 2017, this year's accompanying high-ranking officials attending this occasion with Xi are clearly downgraded: no vice premier-level Politburo members accompanied, no Central Office director accompanied, while the National People's Congress, CPPCC, and military each sent one person as per convention.
No vice premier-level Politburo member accompanying is clearly a downgrade, weakening Xi's status. The reason Cai Qi did not attend may be that he is still a Politburo Standing Committee member, and if the specification is to be lowered, Cai Qi naturally cannot attend. And the one who can prohibit Cai Qi from attending is absolutely not Xi, but the "Party Central Committee" that Xi has repeatedly emphasized.
The article then inserts an image (above) indicating the bizarre arrangement of the first row seats in the meeting group photo, stating: Looking again at this group photo, compared to the 2017 group photo where the first row high-ranking officials had little spacing, the spacing between the first row seats in this group photo is somewhat strange. The intervals between the first row seats show obvious differences: the distance between Xi and Zhang Youxia sitting to his right, and between Xi and Li Hongzhong sitting to his left, is about two and a half people's width; the interval between Zhang Youxia and Chen Yiqin sitting to his right is also about two and a half people's width; but the interval between Li Hongzhong and the official to his left is one and a half people's width, and the intervals for others are also about this distance; the interval between Chen Yiqin and the official to her right is one and a half people's width, and the intervals for others are also about this distance.
The article comments on this: The distance between Xi and Zhang Youxia's seats is undoubtedly a true portrayal of the relationship between the two, which is to keep distance. If the rumors are true, if since the Third Plenary Session last July, Xi has indeed lost military power, but the military, under some kind of pressure, temporarily maintains Xi's position as Military Commission chairman, then the reason the two chose such a distance in the group photo can be found.
In addition, from the CCTV footage, such a seating arrangement, when the lens is pulled back, reveals that Zhang Youxia and Xi Jinping are in the same central position. Is this arrangement proclaiming Zhang Youxia's special status in the military, or highlighting that the CCP currently has two "cores"!
The article finally comments: Cai Qi's absence and the bizarre seats in the group photo—are they also revealing a secret that the CCP's Fourth Plenary Session may have reached but has not been made public? △
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