From August 1 to 16, 2026, Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping and seven other members of the Politburo Standing Committee, as well as political bureau members serving in the central government, collectively went into hiding, entering a period of “summer break” and secret meetings in Beidaihe.
After the Beidaihe session ended, in the second half of August 2026, several major politically sensitive events occurred within the top ranks of the CCP. These events included the commemoration of former CCP leader Jiang Zemin’s birthday on August 17, the funeral for former Premier Zhu Rongji on August 18, the 6th plenary session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection on August 22 to appoint two new deputy secretaries, and the dismissal of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli from military positions during the National People’s Congress Standing Committee meeting from August 25 to 28.
The timing of these events, the content, and the attendance of senior officials, especially the presence of veterans such as Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, and Li Ruihuan, provided many points of interest. The political signals released and reflected by these events in the CCP’s political situation are worth paying attention to.
On August 12, 2026, at 18:00 Beijing time, Xinhua News Agency announced the passing of Zhu Rongji, former member of the 14th and 15th Central Political Bureau Standing Committee and former Premier of the State Council, at the age of 98 in Beijing on August 12.
In recent years, there have been frequent reports of Zhu Rongji’s poor health. In January 2026, rumors circulated again on social media that Zhu Rongji had died at Huadong Hospital in Shanghai without a public funeral. At that time, commentator Cai Shenkun posted on X platform stating that the death of CCP leaders due to illness depends on the family and current leaders. Even if they have been in a vegetative state for a long time, as long as the family does not agree to remove life support, they can live for years. Unless the CCP central leadership orders the removal of life support, the content of the obituary would have been planned, so there would be no secret funeral as rumored.
Prior to this, after Xi Jinping broke the tradition of not serving multiple terms as CCP leader at the 20th Party Congress, on November 30, 2022, former CCP leader Jiang Zemin was officially announced to have passed away due to leukemia and multiple organ failure. At that time, analysts outside speculated that Jiang Zemin had relied on various medical equipment to sustain vital signs for many years, and his death depended on when Xi Central would order to remove life support.
The official announcement of Zhu Rongji’s passing was scheduled during the CCP Beidaihe session, a sensitive timing, likely decided by the top leadership of the CCP. Speculation abounds on what considerations and transactions are involved in this decision.
After the Beidaihe session, on the morning of August 18, 2026, Zhu Rongji’s funeral was held in Beijing. According to Xinhua News Agency, the seven members of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee, including Vice President of the State Han Zheng, attended to pay their respects. Hu Jintao laid a wreath and expressed condolences to Zhu Rongji.
On the same night, CCTV’s “Xinwen Lianbo” broadcast showed Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, and Li Ruihuan, who had missed Jiang Zemin’s memorial the day before, laying wreaths.
On August 17, 2026, the CCP held a centenary event commemorating the birth of former CCP leader Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. According to Xinhua News Agency and CCTV live broadcast footage, out of 17 retired national-level senior CCP officials, 13 attended the event, including Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Zhang Dejiang, Yu Zhengsheng, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Li Lanqing, Zeng Qinghong, Li Changchun, He Guoqiang, Liu Yunshan, Wang Qishan, and Zhang Gaoli. Hu Jintao, Li Ruihuan, Wu Guanzheng, and Luo Gan were absent.
Under the backdrop of a political and power crisis in the CCP regime and his own power crisis, Xi Jinping openly commemorated Jiang Zemin’s birthday, playing the “dead man’s card” to attract the remaining Jiang faction. On one hand, this may involve power struggles surrounding the reelection at the 21st Party Congress and senior personnel arrangements; on the other hand, it requires the elder statesmen to appear collectively as per tradition, creating the illusion of unity within the CCP leadership and endorsing Xi’s power.
Hu Jintao has not appeared in public for over three years; his absence this time did not attract particular attention from the public. However, the alleged strong and healthy Li Ruihuan’s absence sparked speculation.
Over the past two years, Li Ruihuan attended the 75th anniversary reception of the CCP’s founding on September 30, 2024, sitting on either side of Xi Jinping alongside Wen Jiabao; he also attended the military parade on September 3, 2025.
Li Ruihuan was known as one of the few standing committee members who dared to confront Jiang Zemin face-to-face and was dubbed the “Jiang-killer.” Li Ruihuan had always been in good health, with no rumors of health crises in recent years. His possible refusal to attend the collective commemoration of Jiang’s birthday sent a signal of distancing from Jiang and even Xi.
The day after the Beidaihe session concluded, on August 18, 2026, a meeting of the NPC Standing Committee was held. The meeting decided to hold the 24th session of the 14th NPC Standing Committee in Beijing from August 25 to 28.
On August 28, 2026, the 24th session of the NPC Standing Committee concluded, and it was announced after the meeting that Zhang Youxia was relieved of the position of Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, while Liu Zhenli was relieved of the position of member of the Central Military Commission and both were dismissed as deputies to the National People’s Congress.
Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli were suddenly announced to be under investigation on January 24, 2026, and it took seven months for them to be dismissed from their positions. During this period, various rumors circulated, leaving many mysteries unsolved.
Following the announcement of the investigation of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli on January 24, the NPC Standing Committee held meetings on February 4, February 25-26, April 27-30, and June 23-26, but neither was dismissed as a national congress representative in any of these meetings.
A source close to the Chinese political situation told Epoch Times in early February 2026 that the military had submitted a proposal to the NPC to revoke the qualifications of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli as national congress representatives, but the relevant proposal did not pass during the NPC Standing Committee meeting held on February 4, 2026.
Compared to the cases of political bureau member Ma Xingrui and former Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission He Weidong, the process of dismissal of Zhang Youxia from both representative and military roles was significantly delayed, taking seven months. During these seven months, particularly during the Beidaihe session, what kind of maneuvering and negotiations occurred among the top CCP leadership regarding Zhang Youxia remains a subject of speculation.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the 6th plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was held in Beijing on August 22, 2026. At the meeting, Zhao Shiyong was elected as Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Zhang Zhong as a standing member and Deputy Secretary.
Since the 18th Party Congress, apart from holding the last plenary session of the previous CCP discipline inspection committee and the first plenary session of the new committee around October or November every five years before and after the party congress, all other plenary sessions were traditionally held in January.
The timing of the 6th plenary session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was sensitive, marking the first time since the 18th Party Congress that a plenary session was held in the middle of the year and less than a week after the end of the Beidaihe session.
Xinhua News Agency’s written report and live coverage on CCTV showed that Xi Jinping, the other members of the Political Bureau Standing Committee, and Zhang Shengmin, Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and Deputy Chairman of the Military Commission, did not attend as per usual.
Furthermore, out of the 116 members of the Central Commission for Discipline…
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