Ma Xingrui succeeds Chen Quanguo as head of Xinjiang

 
Ma Xingrui succeeds Chen Quanguo as head of Xinjiang

Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency reported on the 25th that Chen Quanguo no longer concurrently serves as Party Secretary of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Ma Xingrui served as Secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee. Chen Quanguo has another appointment.

Chen Quanguo is a member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee and has served as secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee since 2016. Unlike his predecessor, Zhang Chunxian, who advocated "flexible governance of Xinjiang", after Chen Quanguo became Xinjiang's top leader, he issued a military order to Xi Jinping, proposing the slogan "In Xinjiang, there is no stability and everything is zero", and adopted high-handed methods to counter terrorism and counter-extreme forces. For this reason, the establishment of what China calls a "vocational skills education and training center" to conduct so-called "de-radicalization" brainwashing education for as many as millions of Xinjiang Uyghur ethnic minorities.

On October 19, 2017, during the 19th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, Chen Quanguo, then Secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee, attended the Xinjiang delegation meeting.

On October 19, 2017, during the 19th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China in Beijing, Chen Quanguo, then Secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee, attended the Xinjiang delegation meeting.

The international community and human rights organizations call these centers "re-education camps" and "detention camps." The United States condemned the CCP's persecution of Uyghur ethnic minorities, calling it a genocide, and imposed sanctions on some Xinjiang officials, including Chen Quanguo.

US President Biden signed on December 23 the "Prevention of Forced Uyghur Labor Law" supported by the Democratic and Republican congressmen, prohibiting the import of Xinjiang products into the United States unless the company can provide clear and convincing evidence that the products are not forced Labor manufacturing.

Chen Quanguo was born in July 1955 and is 66 years old this year. Chen Quanguo is the only senior CCP official who has served as secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee and Tibet Party Committee (from 2011 to 2016). At the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China next year, whether the 67-year-old Chen Quanguo can get to the next level is a matter of concern.

Ma Xingrui, who succeeds Chen Quanguo, is 62 years old. He became the governor of Guangdong Province in January 2017. Before that, he had served in the aerospace industry for many years. As the new secretary of the Xinjiang Party Committee, Ma Xingrui may enter the Politburo of the Communist Party of China at the 20th National Congress of next year and be promoted to deputy state level.