Introduction: the Primary Factions The official explanation for Mr. Hu Jintao’s removal from the last meeting of the 20 th National Party Congress is that he wasn’t feeling well, so an usher assisted him in getting out of his chair and walking out of the Great Hall of the People.* But that explanation seems contrary to the appearances that anyone can see on the numerous You Tube videos of the event. So I offer a different interpretation. Hu Jintao was once the most powerful man in China. He was the Communist Party General Secretary from 2002 to 2012. At the same time he was the President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and he was the civilian Commander in Chief of the Chinese military. Then between 2012 and 2013 all these offices were given to Xi Jinping in a peaceful transfer of power. Xi Jinping was made the Party leader because he was acceptable to the two major factions in Chinese politics. These are the “Radicals” and the “Liberals.” The Radicals are the pro-Maoist hardl
Working to build a coherent alternative to the dominant positivistic paradigm in political science.