A Chinese wall between Jintao, Zemin? Probably

As China’s leaders prepare to gather for a national planning session, the country’s two top officials, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, ...

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As China’s leaders prepare to gather for a national planning session, the country’s two top officials, Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, are engaged in an increasingly pointed power struggle that has begun to create cracks in the one-party system, Chinese officials said.

Tension between Jiang, the country’s semi-retired senior leader who still heads the military, and Hu, who replaced Jiang as Communist Party chief and president nearly two years ago, has begun influencing debates on issues such as slowing the overheated economy and assigning jobs, these people say. The sensitive matters are now often viewed within the party as factional fights.

Since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, China’s leaders have at times sparred over power and ideology without threatening one-party rule. Even so, some officials say the split between Jiang and Hu has the potential to escalate into a direct confrontation. At a minimum, divided leadership seems likely to complicate policy-making in a system that relies on clear direction from the top.

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Purported differences between the two men are often exaggerated in China’s rumour-filled political discourse. But people in the government and party hierarchy, say they see signs that the two leaders have associated themselves with opposing schools of thought.

Broadly speaking, Hu is seen as embracing the idea that China needs to focus more on populist social problems, like corruption, health care, income in equality and environmental pollution, while Jiang has often spoken about the importance of maintaining a high rate of economic growth.

Several people also said that Hu and Jiang have also begun to diverge subtly on foreign policy, with Hu working to forge closer ties to European nations and Jiang emphasising cordial relationship with the US.

The main source of tension between the two is now said to be personnel changes that could be discussed at the September meetings, known as the Fourth Plenum.

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People said Hu intends to put forward a proposal to increase the number of vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission, the top military body, to five from three, potentially loosening Jiang’s grip on the military. Jiang now chairs the Commission and Hu is one of the three vice chairmen.

His proposal is seen as a step toward Jiang’s retirement in Hu’s favour. Jiang, however, has declined to resign or to set a time for the transition, these people said. Instead, he has proposed elevating his lieutenant, Vice President Zeng Qinghong, to join Hu as a vice chairman of the military commission.

— (NYT)