Chairman Xi Jinping’s tightening grip on power was on full display at the Chinese Communist Party’s Fourth Plenary Session, where strikingly low attendance and a record number of disciplinary actions underscored intensifying purges and unease within China’s elite political and military circles.

The Fourth Plenum of the 20th Central Committee, held in Beijing on 20 October, revealed that only 168 of 205 Central Committee members (82%) and 147 of 171 alternates (86%) were present — the lowest turnout since Xi assumed power. Nearly one-sixth of the committee’s 376 officials were missing, many believed to have been sidelined or purged under Xi’s sweeping “anti-corruption” campaign.

The sharp decline reflects how ruthless and far-reaching Xi’s internal crackdown has become. Also Read | H

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