Who can fill the shoes of China’s Iron Lady Sun Chunlan on Politburo?
- For two years she has ruled the country’s Covid-19 response with an iron fist, but at 72 the vice-premier is expected to step down at this year’s party congress
- But with few women climbing the leadership ladder, it is uncertain if Sun’s successor will be female
China has groomed many female athletes to bring home Olympics gold and trained women astronauts for its ambitious space programme, but without a similar political pathway, the ruling Communist Party may struggle to find a woman who can fill the shoes of Sun Chunlan.
For the past two years, she has spearheaded China’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic, starting in Wuhan where the world’s first battle against the virus was fought.
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Sun is the country’s only female vice-premier, a position which carries a seat on the all-powerful Politburo. At 72, she is already beyond the usual retirement age of 68, and is widely expected to step down in the autumn, at China’s most important political event.
Observers said whoever is picked to succeed Sun at the Communist Party’s 20th national congress – where a major leadership reshuffle is on the cards – will have big shoes to fill.
The Covid fighter
As the Omicron variant continues to challenge China’s Covid-19 defences, so does Sun’s almost non-stop inspection tours across the country.
She hammers local officials into closely following Beijing’s “dynamic zero” policy, which relies on draconian measures including mass testing and lockdowns.
