Hu Jintao

Leadership

Since taking over as Party General Secretary at the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Hu Jintao has appeared to have a more egalitarian style than his predecessor, and there are no obvious signs that Jiang Zemin is still exercising power. Hu has focused on sectors of the Chinese population that have been left behind by the economic reform, and has taken a number of high profile trips to the poorer areas of China with the stated goal of understanding these areas better. The major early crisis of Hu's leadership was the outbreak of SARS. Following strong criticism of China by the World Health Organization and others for covering up and responding slowly to the crisis, he sacked several party and government officials, including the health minister and the mayor of Beijing, and took steps to increase the transparency of China's reporting to international health organizations.

Related Topics:
Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China - Egalitarian - Jiang Zemin - SARS - World Health Organization - Beijing

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although reform minded, Hu has also sometimes taken a harder line than his predecessor. Many who thought he may have been a closet liberal prior to his ascession have been sorely disappointed by his crackdowns against journalists and political dissidents.

Related Topics:
Journalists - Political dissidents

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Another test of Hu's leadership was Beijing's low key response to protests against the implementation of Article 23 of the Basic Law in Hong Kong in 2003. In an unprecedented move, the legislation to implement the Article was withdrawn by the Hong Kong government, after a large popular protest on July 1, 2003. At the same time, Hu gave a public show of support to Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-Hwa after gauging public mood in Hong Kong. Many observers see the Central Government's handling of the situation as characteristic of Hu's quiet style, and unlike Tung Chee-Hwa, Hu remains a popular figure in Hong Kong.

Related Topics:
Article 23 of the Basic Law - Hong Kong - July 1 - 2003 - Hong Kong Chief Executive - Tung Chee-Hwa

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Although Jiang Zemin, then 76, stepped down from the powerful Politburo Standing Committee to make way for a younger "fourth generation" of leadership led by Hu, there was speculation that Jiang Zemin would retain significant power because Hu is not associated with Jiang's "Shanghai clique", to which six out of the nine new members of the all-powerful Standing Committee are linked. The 22-member Politburo is elected by the Party's central committee. Real power in Communist China lies with this committee, which works like an inner cabinet and groups together the country's most influential leaders. At the 2002 16th Party Congress, the Standing Committee was expanded to include nine members. In addition, Jiang was reelected to the post of Chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, a post from which Deng Xiaoping was able to wield power from behind the scenes as "paramount leader."

Related Topics:
Fourth generation - Shanghai clique - Party's central committee - 16th Party Congress - Central Military Commission - Deng Xiaoping - Paramount leader

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

China has a history of fallen heirs-apparent, which many observers believe explains the caution with which outside observers have long associated Hu Jintao. The PRC has been plagued with succession problems, with elder cadres, such as Deng Xiaoping, wielding behind the scenes power through younger protégés. Deng was able to anoint three party secretaries, and was instrumental in the ousting of two of them, Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang. His third and final selection, Jiang Zemin, won Deng's continued backing and was the only party secretary in Communist Chinese history to voluntarily leave his post when his term ended. Even Deng himself fell from grace as party general secretary (not the top communist post during that time) in the 1950s due to his indifferent support for Maoist economic policies.

Related Topics:
Hu Yaobang - Zhao Ziyang - Maoist

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the same time, attempts to draw historical parallels need to be carefully considered. Since the early-1980s, the People's Republic of China has been marked by increasing institutionalization and rule has been de-personalized. In reaction to the anarchy of the Cultural Revolution, the Communist Party of China has had as one of its major goals, the creation of an orderly system of succession and mechanism to prevent informal rule and a cult of personality.

Related Topics:
People's Republic of China - Cultural Revolution - Communist Party of China - Cult of personality

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

However, speculations around the political rivalry between Jiang and Hu largely subsided when Jiang resigned as Chairman of the Central Military Commission in September 2004, his last official post. Hu succeeded Jiang as the Chairman of CMC and thus gaining effective control over the state, the party, as well as the army.

Related Topics:
Central Military Commission - Army

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hu and Wen Jiabao have also attempted to move China away from a policy of favouring economic growth at all costs and toward a more balanced view of growth that includes factors in social inequality and environmental damage, including the use of the green gross domestic product in personnel decisions.

Related Topics:
Wen Jiabao - Green gross domestic product

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~