(Tingshu Wang/Reuters)
   Xi Jinping unveiled his top leadership team today, filling it with close allies from his inner circle – and sidelining those outside his political orbit, including Premier Li Keqiang.   

  But a different figure grabbed the spotlight yesterday at the end of the 20th Party Congress – former supreme leader Hu Jintao, Xi’s predecessor, who was unexpectedly ushered out of the hall during the closing ceremony.   

  Hu, 79, was sitting right next to Xi on stage when two men approached him.  They spoke briefly, with Hu looking reluctant at first.  Hu finally stood, escorted by the two men from his seat, one holding his hand.   

  On his way out, Hu was seen gesturing to Xi and saying something to the leader.  He then patted Premier Li – Hu’s ally and former protégé – on the shoulder.  Both Xi and Li seem to have nodded in agreement.  it was not clear if Xi spoke.   

“We really haven’t seen any kind of disruption of processes like this almost as far as I can remember,” said Victor Shih, an expert on elite Chinese politics at the University of California, San Diego. 

  The circumstances surrounding his departure were not immediately clear, and CNN was censored on air in China when it reported on Hu’s departure.   

  The dramatic moment has not been reported in state-run Chinese-language media or discussed on Chinese social media, where such conversation is extremely limited – but it has sparked a firestorm of speculation abroad, with some analysts suggesting it could be a power play by the side of Si.   

  Hu held the role of China’s top leader from 2003 to 2013, presiding over a comparatively more open and economically integrated era.  Hu oversaw China’s landmark 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and a decade of double-digit economic growth.   

  Hu was never as powerful as Xi is now – in part because of the balancing influence of several party factions and larger parties, including his predecessor Jiang Zemin.   

  Hu was linked to a faction linked to the Communist Youth League, a group whose influence has declined significantly under Xi’s rule.   

  State media breaks silence: On Saturday evening, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency wrote on its English-language Twitter account that Hu “insisted on attending the final session of the 20th National Party Congress despite taking time to recently recovered.”   

  “When he was not feeling well during the session, his staff, for his health, would accompany him to a room next to the meeting place to rest.  Now, it is much better,” Xinhua wrote.   

  Twitter is banned in China.  To date, Xinhua has not published the statement on its website or Chinese social media.   

  And many experts remain sceptical.  Shih pointed out that after Hu voted on the new Central Committee composition, he had been seated “in a fairly stable manner” – whereas if he had felt ill, staff could have “taken him away and given him medical attention” immediately after the vote. .   

“Really, it’s very confusing,” Sis said.  “But it is a very remarkable event during the Party Congress.”