Congress Ends, Mystery Surrounding Xi Remains

BEIJING - Through binoculars, I watched as Xi Jinping, China's vice president and the man almost certain to be its next leader, rose from his seat seconds after the last, brassy notes of the Internationale died away in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Wednesday.

It was around noon and more than 2,000 delegates to the Communist Party's 18th National Congress had just chosen a new Central Committee of just over 200 people, though their names had not been announced. (The committee will elect a Politburo, a Standing Committee of the Politburo and a general secretary, or party leader, on Thursday.)

President Hu Jintao had just delivered his brief, closing address to the congress, in which he said his work report on the last five years, delivered on the opening day of the Congress the previous Thursday, was “the crystallization of the wisdom of the whole party and the people of all ethnic groups in China.”

He called it “a political declaration a nd a program of action for the party to rally and lead the people of all ethnic groups in China in winning new victory for socialism with Chinese characteristics. The report is a guiding Marxist document.”

The congress was over.

On the stage, scores of party grandees milled around, picking up papers, greeting each other and shaking hands.

Mr. Xi remained alone, surveying the crowd. No one came up to him and he approached no one. As people began to head for the exits, Li Keqiang, the man almost certain to be his prime minister (Mr. Xi is expected to be chosen party leader on Thursday and to become president next year), passed by Mr. Xi, and the two fell into step, talking. After a few paces Mr. Li turned to a line of delegates, shaking hands, while Mr. Xi hung back. He shook a hand or two. Then he walked off the stage, alone.

As I wrote in my Letter from China this week, Mr Xi, 59, was a long-prepared candidate for high office.

“He's very sta ble. He's low-key. He's not a show-off who attracts attention. These are qualities that the people choosing leaders here value very highly,” said a Europe-based Chinese journalist who writes for People's Daily, the party newspaper, speaking earlier that morning.

Mr. Xi is personable too, according to overseas politicians, diplomats and businessmen who have met him. He is warmer than Mr. Hu, and is known to be in a state of despair at the poor state of Chinese soccer, rolling his eyes when asked about the national team on a trip to Ireland in February, according to people present.

Yet in most ways he remains a mystery, like so much else that happened this week at the congress where access for reporters was limited.

Waiting outside the hall just before the ceremony, I approached a group of a half-dozen men in olive green military uniforms, said hello, and asked if we could chat. They stared at me in silence, not a smile on a face.

“I, uh, guess you don't want to talk, is that right?” I said, trying to make light of it. “It's a pity, no? I mean, if people can't talk, misunderstandings may easily arise,” I said.

Still no one spoke.

Then one of them said: “We are not allowed to accept interviews.” The others nodded.

And that was that. I still have no idea who they were.