CNN International Xi Jinping and the New Politburo Standing Committee Robert Lawrence Kuhn - October 26, 2017 HOST: The author of How China’s Leaders Think: The Inside Story of Past, Current and Future Leaders, Robert Lawrence Kuhn is a longtime advisor to the Chinese government. He comes to us once again from Beijing. We talked this time yesterday. Good to have you back. And we discussed yesterday what we would learn about that lineup of the standing committee. It hadn’t been revealed at that point that we spoke, but we now know and is it correct to say the most significant thing is no sign of a leader in waiting? RLK: I think the most significant sign is who the people are and how they relate to each other. It’s a group that actually respects traditional norms. RLK: There was thought that Wang Qishan, for example, might violate norms by being on the Standing Committee after the traditional retirement age and that’s not the case. There is balance among the member in terms of their geographies, even their political affiliations within the party which internally are important. Two are from Shanghai, two are from the Communist Youth League - one is actually from Shanghai and the Youth League as well but he’s really from Shanghai - two have a long relationship with General Secretary Xi. And then of course General Secretary Xi has the overarching power as everyone says - and that is correct and will be correct for a long time to come. HOST: Absolutely, well certainly but breaking precedent by not having a young leader coming up behind him and we discussed this yesterday. The transfer of Mr. Xi will remain in power for many more years to come, perhaps revive the position of party chairman and stick around indefinitely. RLK: There’s no question about the power and longevity of Xi. I would put it a little differently. I’d say that it is not even necessary for him to have the party chairmanship or any particular title because of his overarching power by having his name as