Xi Jinping Absent in Beijing, Military Takes Big Action, Zhang Youxia Displays Dominance as Military Boss

Zhang Youxia, during his speech on stage, was full of assertiveness, displaying the demeanor of the top military boss. Military officers below the stage were taking notes with their heads down, showing complete submission. (Video Screenshot)

[People News] On October 22, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping arrived in Kazan, Russia, to attend the three-day BRICS summit. What's quite intriguing is that before Xi Jinping, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), had even left, Zhang Youxia, the CMC Vice Chairman, initiated a major military action, while the top military leader Xi Jinping was left in the background.

According to official Chinese reports, with Xi Jinping's approval, a comprehensive military training meeting took place from October 20 to 22 in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province. CMC Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia, who is also a member of the CCP Politburo, attended the meeting, observed the demonstration of exercises, night live-fire testing exercises, and participated in the overall training review and gave a speech.

Notably, the official report stated that this meeting was convened with Xi Jinping's approval. However, the question arises: why couldn't such an important military-wide meeting wait a few more days until Xi Jinping returned from Russia to convene it? Even if the meeting had to start on the 20th, Xi Jinping, who was still in Beijing on the 20th and 21st, could have attended as CMC Chairman to deliver an opening speech — wouldn't that be the most logical course of action?

Another intriguing point is that while Zhang Youxia delivered his assertive speech on stage, He Weidong, the other CMC Vice Chairman, who had previously been seen as almost on equal footing with Zhang and even showing signs of surpassing him, was seated below, listening. Zhang Youxia's performance on stage was domineering, fully displaying the attitude of the military's top leader. Meanwhile, the military officers below were all taking notes with their heads down, completely submissive in posture.