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Hu strikes back at Jiang
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Hu Jintao is striking back -- in his inimitably understated manner. The new Communist Party General Secretary has in a roundabout fashion told President Jiang Zemin and his Shanghai Faction they have gone too far in their power grab. Jiang's overweening ways were evidenced when he blatantly filled a majority of the Politburo with Jiang or Shanghai Faction affiliates at last month's 16th Communist Party Congress. Moreover, the outgoing president has no longer bothered to hide his determination to hang on to the chairmanship of the Central Military Commission (CMC) for two years or more. This is despite the fact that since retiring from the Central Committee and the Politburo at the Congress, the 76-year-old is no more than an ordinary party member. In the past few weeks, however, Hu, usually self-effacing to a fault, has asserted himself in a circumlocutory way. The head of the so-called Communist Youth League Clique has appealed for support from both the right, or liberal, as well as the left, or conservative factions of the party. Take for example, Hu's repeated emphasis on upholding the spirit of the law. In a speech earlier this month marking the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the 1982 Constitution, the party chief pointed out that "no organization or individual has the special power to override the Constitution and the law." "The Constitution has promoted the construction of our country's socialist democracy," he said. "We must uphold the basic principle of running the country according to law." Not so subtleDiplomatic analysts in Beijing noted it was the first major address that Hu had made for a long time without citing Jiang's name. "Many party cadres believe Hu's not-so-subtle message is that Jiang and his cronies have violated the spirit if not the letter of the law by their efforts to monopolize power," said a Western diplomat. While the 60-year-old leader is generally deemed a "moderate liberal," it is no secret that he has enjoyed the backing of leftists including influential party elder Song Ping. These quasi-Maoists have since mid-2001 accused Jiang of giving up orthodox Marxism by cozying up to the capitalists. Hu apparently tried to address the leftists' concerns during a well-publicized trip this month to Xibobo, Hebei Province, one of the Meccas of the Communist revolution. The party chief revived Chairman Mao's credo about "plain living and hard struggle," as well as "serving the people with all one's heart and mind." While citing Jiang's pet "Theory of the Three Represents," Hu only mentioned the one component of the dictum that conservatives could identify with, namely that the party must represent "the fundamental interests of the broad masses." No reference was made to the fact that the party must represent the "foremost productivity and the most advanced culture," which was Jiang's justification for allowing private entrepreneurs to be enrolled in the party. Instead, the general secretary, who has spent 21 years in three of China's poorest provinces, pledged to "safeguard and materialize the interests of the masses." Political observers in Beijing think Hu might be playing up the fact that he was much more intoned to the needs of the people than Shanghai Faction affiliates, who only represented the nouveau riche classes along the coast. 'Political correctness'
While Hu lacks national stature, he has won sympathy from a broad spectrum of party cadres for being the victim of Jiang's Machiavellian statecraft. And anti-Jiang sentiments have grown as more snippets about the highly questionable methods Jiang and company used to manipulate elections at the 16th Party Congress have leaked out. In past congresses, all delegates cast their votes together when they picked members of the ruling Central Committee, and there were instances when cadres who had been destined for senior party or government posts failed to make it in. At the 16th Congress, however, Jiang and his right-hand man Zeng Qinghong, a former head of the party's Organization Department, changed the rules by obliging the 2,114 delegates to cast their ballots in small groups. Representatives from different provinces voted separately -- and in different venues. And the head of each provincial delegation -- usually the party secretary -- was given instructions by Jiang's men to ensure the interests of the Shanghai Faction would be taken care of. Because the delegates voted in separate groups, it was a lot easier for Shanghai Faction-controlled party whips to influence the results of the balloting. In spite of these machinations, however, quite a number of Jiang Faction stalwarts performed poorly at the polls when full members of the Central Committee were selected. This was true for three key Jiang allies on the new Politburo Standing Committee, Zeng, former Shanghai secretary boss Huang Ju, and former Beijing party boss Jia Qinglin. And several Jiang cronies, including chief bodyguard General You Shigui, Army Vice-Chief of Staff General Xiong Guangkai, and Shenzhen party boss Huang Liman almost failed to make the list of alternate, or second-tier Central Committee members. It is true, of course, that the 16th Congress marked the apogee of Jiang's powers -- and it is most unlikely that Hu, having laid low for so many years, would actively challenge Jiang's supremacy. And it was none other than Hu who insisted soon after the Congress that his name be preceded by Jiang's in the official protocol list or pecking order. However, the party chief knows very well that if he does not quickly consolidate his authority and build up a national following, he could be kicked upstairs and even elbowed aside before the 17th Party Congress slated for 2007. Analysts say internecine bickering between the Jiang and Hu cliques could worsen if, as expected, Jiang's alter ego Zeng is made vice-president after Hu has acceded to the presidency upon Jiang's retirement from the top state job in March.
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