China’s Communist Party conclave on toughening discipline sees record expulsions, absences

A Chinese Communist Party conclave on toughening internal discipline this week formally expelled ?a record number of senior officials and logged the highest absence rate in its modern history ?as ?purges thinned its leadership ranks. The gathering, the party’s fifth plenum since the current leadership cohort was formed in 2022, also set the 21st Party Congress for the second half of 2027 in Beijing, effectively starting proceedings for China’s tightly choreographed, twice-a-decade top reshuffle, when President Xi Jinping is expected to extend his rule for another five-year term. The closed-door meeting of the party’s Central Committee, the largest of its…