Do we like them?

Do we like Zhao Leji?

Our score: 3 out of 10. Plenty of power and very little on the record, in his own words, about LGBTQ+ people, women or the planet, and nothing verified we can call real good.

Zhao Leji is the number three in China's ruling Communist Party. He was born in Xining in Qinghai, then ran Qinghai and later Shaanxi as party chief, climbing the ladder through the provinces before landing in the Politburo Standing Committee in 2017. Since March 2023 he has chaired the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the body that passes China's laws between full sessions.

From 2017 to 2022 he headed the party's discipline commission, which ran Xi Jinping's anti-corruption drive. Where you land on that depends on whether you read the campaign as a genuine clean-up or as a way for Xi to tighten his grip. Either way, it made him one of the most powerful figures in the country.

Now the harm check, and here's the honest gap: I couldn't find his own words or acts on LGBTQ+ people, trans rights, migrants or climate policy that I could source properly. Chinese state media reported that he discussed cooperation on women's rights, education and climate change during his Australian visit, but that's a readout, not a track record. With no quotes from him on those topics, this has to stay a close call rather than a pass or a fail.

His most recent big outing was a goodwill trip to New Zealand and Australia in November 2025, where he is reported to have made no public remarks. He had a working breakfast with Anthony Albanese in Canberra, and parliamentary staff were reportedly told to lock down their devices before he arrived. In 2026 he has kept up a routine run of diplomacy, including the Boao Forum and a meeting with Laos' leader in June.

There's plenty of chatter online that he has fallen out with Xi or that his relatives are caught up in provincial cases. It comes from partisan outlets such as Vision Times, and it is tabloid territory until an established outlet confirms it. Meanwhile, official coverage shows him doing his usual jobs, and nothing from an established outlet backs the rumours.

Nothing recent has surfaced that I'd call news: no scandal, no big announcement, just a steady stream of meetings. As for the good stuff, I found no verified charity, no kind act and no stand taken at a personal cost. That's honestly the whole list.