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Monday, 21 September 2009
Shock as party fails to anoint Xi
Against all expectations, Vice-President Xi Jinping has not been appointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, a post that would have sealed him as the heir of President Hu Jintao.
Against all expectations, Vice-President Xi Jinping has not been appointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, a post that would have sealed him as the heir of President Hu Jintao.
Communist Party leaders completed their four-day annual conclave yesterday without announcing any appointment.
Overseas media and China watchers had predicted Xi would follow in Hu’s footsteps 10 years ago when he became vice-chairman of the military’s supreme command at a similar meeting, then later president.
The fourth plenum of the Communist Party’s 17th Central Committee, attended by about 370 senior party members, ended its four-day meeting without any major announcement. Rather, it just produced a vague communique promising to increase intraparty democracy, intensify anti-corruption efforts, maintain economic stability and improve ethnic harmony.
Mainland observers said the fact Xi did not become commission vice-chairman raised questions of whether the party had really established a mechanism for a smooth transfer of power in 2012.
“It makes China’s leadership succession procedures less certain and predictable,” said Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, of City University.
Although Xi did not get the appointment at this meeting, observers say he is still seen as the primary candidate to succeed Hu.
Holding a military post is not a prerequisite for becoming head of the party and the state. The lack of an appointment may simply indicate that the party has not reached a consensus on Xi becoming a vice-chairman of the powerful CMC.
However, the absence of a decision has raised the level of uncertainty over the next power transfer.
China experts often have to rely on past patterns to predict successions. Hu became vice-chairman of the CMC at a fourth plenum meeting in 1999, paving the way for him to take over from Jiang Zemin as president in 2003.
Many people at the time believed these steps were setting a precedent for leadership succession. They were proved wrong yesterday.
“Having no decision [on the appointment] will encourage unnecessary speculation and competition,” City University’s Cheng said.
Hu Xingdou, a commentator from Beijing University of Technology, said: ‘It suggests the top leadership has yet to reach a consensus on the issue, or suggests that the issue is still under the process of internal consultation.”
Leadership succession has always been a tricky and thorny issue in China’s opaque politics. In the absence of an open election, it often leads to intense behind-doors politicking and horse-trading.
Xi’s own ascension to power was an example of this.
The 56-year-old Shaanxi native shot from relative obscurity as the Zhejiang party secretary in 2005 to become a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, one of the country’s nine most-powerful leaders, at the 17th National Party Congress in 2007. He was appointed vice-president the following year.
Xi, who had been best known for his famous father, Xi Zhongxun - a close ally of former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping - was then suddenly mentioned as someone who could succeed Hu when he steps down in 2012.
In April, Xi was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most powerful and influential people on the planet.
Many attribute his rise to the fact that he is one of the few people accepted by all factions in the top echelons of power.
Xi belongs to the powerful princeling group, whose members include Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai and Vice-Premier Wang Qishan, to name just a few.
The elder Xi, who died in 2002, was a founding father of the People’s Republic and served as first party secretary of Guangdong and the country’s vice-premier.
The younger Xi previously served as a party leader in Shanghai, and his leadership there earned him a reputation in some circles as someone who backed liberal policies and more aggressive market reforms.
It also connected him to former party chief and president Jiang Zemin - leader of the powerful “Shanghai Gang”.
Xi also proved himself a capable politician early on. He has developed a reputation as a tough character who can be relied on to get difficult jobs done. He was the man the central government turned to when they needed to replace Shanghai party secretary Chen Liangyu when the full extent of Chen’s bribery and corruption became clear.
Xi has generally kept a low profile since being installed as vice- president and the No 6 in the party hierarchy.
But he also has been also known for his occasional outspokenness, something that would be a marked change in style if he does succeed Hu.
While on a ministerial visit to Mexico in February, Xi hit out at the nation’s external critics, telling a crowd of overseas Chinese that there were “a few foreigners with full bellies who have nothing better to do than try to point fingers at our country”.
“China does not export revolution, hunger, poverty, nor does China cause you any headaches. Just what else do you want?” he added.
The comments - a stark contrast to the diplomatic approach preferred by Hu and Wen Jiabao - sparked considerable controversy.
2 comments:
Shock as party fails to anoint Xi
Cary Huang in Beijing
19 September 2009
Against all expectations, Vice-President Xi Jinping has not been appointed vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, a post that would have sealed him as the heir of President Hu Jintao.
Communist Party leaders completed their four-day annual conclave yesterday without announcing any appointment.
Overseas media and China watchers had predicted Xi would follow in Hu’s footsteps 10 years ago when he became vice-chairman of the military’s supreme command at a similar meeting, then later president.
The fourth plenum of the Communist Party’s 17th Central Committee, attended by about 370 senior party members, ended its four-day meeting without any major announcement. Rather, it just produced a vague communique promising to increase intraparty democracy, intensify anti-corruption efforts, maintain economic stability and improve ethnic harmony.
Mainland observers said the fact Xi did not become commission vice-chairman raised questions of whether the party had really established a mechanism for a smooth transfer of power in 2012.
“It makes China’s leadership succession procedures less certain and predictable,” said Joseph Cheng Yu-shek, of City University.
Although Xi did not get the appointment at this meeting, observers say he is still seen as the primary candidate to succeed Hu.
Holding a military post is not a prerequisite for becoming head of the party and the state. The lack of an appointment may simply indicate that the party has not reached a consensus on Xi becoming a vice-chairman of the powerful CMC.
However, the absence of a decision has raised the level of uncertainty over the next power transfer.
China experts often have to rely on past patterns to predict successions. Hu became vice-chairman of the CMC at a fourth plenum meeting in 1999, paving the way for him to take over from Jiang Zemin as president in 2003.
Many people at the time believed these steps were setting a precedent for leadership succession. They were proved wrong yesterday.
“Having no decision [on the appointment] will encourage unnecessary speculation and competition,” City University’s Cheng said.
Hu Xingdou, a commentator from Beijing University of Technology, said: ‘It suggests the top leadership has yet to reach a consensus on the issue, or suggests that the issue is still under the process of internal consultation.”
Leadership succession has always been a tricky and thorny issue in China’s opaque politics. In the absence of an open election, it often leads to intense behind-doors politicking and horse-trading.
Xi’s own ascension to power was an example of this.
The 56-year-old Shaanxi native shot from relative obscurity as the Zhejiang party secretary in 2005 to become a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, one of the country’s nine most-powerful leaders, at the 17th National Party Congress in 2007. He was appointed vice-president the following year.
Xi, who had been best known for his famous father, Xi Zhongxun - a close ally of former paramount leader Deng Xiaoping - was then suddenly mentioned as someone who could succeed Hu when he steps down in 2012.
In April, Xi was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most powerful and influential people on the planet.
Many attribute his rise to the fact that he is one of the few people accepted by all factions in the top echelons of power.
Xi belongs to the powerful princeling group, whose members include Chongqing party secretary Bo Xilai and Vice-Premier Wang Qishan, to name just a few.
The elder Xi, who died in 2002, was a founding father of the People’s Republic and served as first party secretary of Guangdong and the country’s vice-premier.
The younger Xi previously served as a party leader in Shanghai, and his leadership there earned him a reputation in some circles as someone who backed liberal policies and more aggressive market reforms.
It also connected him to former party chief and president Jiang Zemin - leader of the powerful “Shanghai Gang”.
Xi also proved himself a capable politician early on. He has developed a reputation as a tough character who can be relied on to get difficult jobs done. He was the man the central government turned to when they needed to replace Shanghai party secretary Chen Liangyu when the full extent of Chen’s bribery and corruption became clear.
Xi has generally kept a low profile since being installed as vice- president and the No 6 in the party hierarchy.
But he also has been also known for his occasional outspokenness, something that would be a marked change in style if he does succeed Hu.
While on a ministerial visit to Mexico in February, Xi hit out at the nation’s external critics, telling a crowd of overseas Chinese that there were “a few foreigners with full bellies who have nothing better to do than try to point fingers at our country”.
“China does not export revolution, hunger, poverty, nor does China cause you any headaches. Just what else do you want?” he added.
The comments - a stark contrast to the diplomatic approach preferred by Hu and Wen Jiabao - sparked considerable controversy.
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