Eight Empty Seats Signal Lowest Party Turnout Since 1976

The ruling Communist Party of China began a four-day closed-door meeting on Monday to address internal discipline and loyalty. The session, known as the fifth plenum, brings together approximately 300 members of the Central Committee in Beijing.

This gathering marks the lowest attendance by the Central Committee since 1976, the year former leader Mao Zedong died. Eight seats within the committee are currently vacant. An additional 15 members are under investigation and face potential replacement before the session concludes.

President Xi Jinping is using the plenum to reinforce his anticorruption campaign and demand greater adherence to his directives. In a January speech published by state media this week, Xi criticized officials he described as "two-faced" and "politically opportunistic." He argued that some cadres comply with orders publicly while resisting them inwardly.

The committee will review a draft policy decision aimed at "full and rigorous party self-governance." The goal is to increase the effectiveness and discipline of party cadres while reducing corruption. Analysts expect the session to push for closer scrutiny of public spending and the use of technology to identify financial irregularities.

Ruby Osman, a senior policy adviser at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, told the Associated Press that the plenum allows Xi to align rising generations of leaders with his view of China's risks and opportunities. Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, predicted the session would call for tougher consequences for officials who fail to meet Xi's priorities.

The meeting comes about a year before Xi is expected to secure a fourth five-year term as party leader. Personnel changes in key leadership bodies are anticipated. The anticorruption drive has already removed five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission, the party's top armed forces body. The plenum may result in new appointments to that commission or a restructuring of party control over the military.

The political session occurs while China's economy faces challenges, including weak domestic spending and a prolonged crisis in the property sector. Tensions with the United States also continue to influence the decisions of Chinese leaders.