- BEIJING (UPI) -- President
Jiang Zemin handed over the reigns of China's Communist Party to Hu Jintao
on Friday as the new Standing Committee of the 30-person Politburo was
introduced to the public.
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- Contrary to official pronouncements that leadership in
China is being decided by institutions rather than individuals, this transition
to a younger generation is political theatre dominated by form over actual
substance.
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- State-controlled Chinese media reported that Jiang was
re-elected chairman of the party's Central Military Commission at the First
Plenary Session of the 16th Central Meeting Friday in the Great Hall of
the People.
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- The CMC is the party's link to the highest echelons of
the People's Liberation Army, the blanket term for China's army, navy and
air force.
-
- At least five of the nine members in the new line up
are identified as close Jiang supporters, indicating he will continue to
exercise political influence through patron-client relations.
-
- The order of the announced line up is interpreted by
China observers as signifying the extent of power each member wields within
the Standing Committee.
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- Jiang's supporters are the new No. 2 in the party hierarchy,
Wu Bangguo, as well as men in the fourth to sixth positions (Jia Qinglin,
Zeng Qinghong, Huang Ju) and the eighth-ranking member, Li Changchun.
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- Hu Jintao, aged 59, is general-secretary of the Communist
Party's Central Committee, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission
and president of the Party School of the Central Committee.
-
- Outside of the party, Hu has the position of vice president
and is the frontrunner to replace Jiang as president in March when the
National People's Congress convenes in Beijing.
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- Hu was party secretary of Tibet between 1988-1992 and
is widely held responsible for the suppression of Tibetans that took place
in early 1989.
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- He was elevated to the standing committee of the Politburo
in October 1992 at the 14th Party Congress by the late Deng Xiaoping.
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- Wu Bangguo, 60, is the second member in the new lineup.
He is a member of the "Shanghai Clique," the name given to the
pro-Jiang faction within the party.
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- In addition to joining the standing committee, Wu Bangguo
is the vice-premier of the state council, a member of its Leading Party
Members' Group, as well as secretary of the Work Committee of Large Enterprises
within the Central Committee. This last title puts him at the leading edge
of policy efforts to revamp the state-owned enterprise system.
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- Wen Jiabao, 59, is considered to represent pragmatists'
interests within the party's inner ruling circle. He is the leading candidate
to replace premier Zhu Rongji when his term expires in March.
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- Wen has the positions of vice-premier within the state
council, membership in the Leading Party Members' Group and secretary of
the Financial Work Committee. The latter posting involves reform of China's
troubled banking sector.
-
- Jia Qinglin, 62, is possibly the most controversial member
of the Standing Committee. Until a month before the Congress, Jia served
as party boss for the Beijing Municipality
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- Jia's wife was implicated in the notorious smuggling
ring operating in Xiamen, Fujian province. It was smashed in 1999 only
after the country had lost billions of yuan in uncollected tax revenue.
Analysts believe that it is only because of Jiang Zemin's protection that
neither Jia nor his wife was arrested in the scandal.
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- The fifth member of the Standing Committee, Zeng Qinghong,
62, is universally considered Jiang's right-hand man and the person to
watch as a potential rival to Hu Jintao.
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- Zeng owes his position to Jiang's patronage rather than
his performance in statecraft. In addition to the inner ruling circle of
the Politburo, Zeng is a member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee.
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- The Secretariat is an administrative unit responsible
for staff support including the preparation of documents for Politburo
consideration.
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- The remaining members of the Standing Committee are:
Jiang supporter Huang Ju, 63, the former party secretary of Shanghai; Wu
Guanzheng, 63, party secretary of Shandong province; Jiang supporter Li
Changchun, 58, party secretary of Guangdong province; and Luo Gan, 66,
secretary of the Political and Legislative Affairs Committee responsible
for state security and a client of conservative leader Li Peng.
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