China’s one-time heir apparent to President Xi Jinping to be kicked upstairs

BEIJING - Up to three standard-bearers of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) Youth League faction could be kicked upstairs and appointed advisers to Parliament, clipping the wings of the once-high-flying group.

Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua, once touted as

a potential successor to Chinese President Xi Jinping,

Supreme Court President Zhou Qiang, 62, and Madam Shen Yueyue, 66, the current president of the government-backed NGO All-China Women’s Federation and a vice-chair of the National People’s Congress (NPC), or Parliament, could soon be political has-beens.