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Strange happenings in China's Congress
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam
(CNN) -- Very strange things are happening in Beijing. A most unlikely cadre, the arch-conservative former director of the Communist Party's Propaganda Department, Ding Guan'gen, has emerged as a dark horse candidate for the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC). Ding's candidacy, which is backed by President Jiang Zemin, has puzzled many among the 2,114 delegates to the 16th Party Congress, who will pick the 190-odd members of the Central Committee on Thursday. And on Friday, the new Central Committee members will elect cadres who will sit on the Politburo -- and the supreme PSC -- from amongst themselves. Head of the Propaganda Department from 1992 until last month, Ding was responsible for draconian policies that have restricted the freedom of expression -- and promoted Jiang's multifarious teachings and theories. Moreover, at 73, Ding is three years older than the generally accepted retirement age for Politburo members. That Jiang, 76, has recommended Ding's elevation has to do with the major paradox of this congress. While the ostensible purpose of the conclave is to endorse the transition of power from the president to younger officials headed by Hu Jintao, Jiang has resorted to Machiavellian means to marginalize the vice-president, who is not a member of the Jiang or Shanghai Faction. Out-gunnedThe result is that while Hu, 59, will be anointed party general secretary on Friday, he may be out-gunned at every turn by Jiang cronies in the new PSC. According to plans originally agreed upon by the current Politburo on the eve of Jiang's departure for the U.S. and Mexico late last month, the seven-member PSC will consist of at least four Jiang Faction affiliates. They include the president's alter ego and chief political advisor, Zeng Qinghong, Vice-Premier Wu Bangguo, former Shanghai party secretary Huang Ju, and former Beijing party boss Jia Qinglin. The other three prospective PSC members are Hu, Wen Jiabao, a protégé of Premier Zhu Rongji, and Luo Gan, a follower of parliament chief Li Peng. Jiang, however, is apparently dissatisfied with the already lopsidedly big clout that his cronies will wield in the new PSC. After returning to Beijing, Jiang has spoken in favor of expanding the PSC -- which usually consists of seven cadres -- to nine in order to accommodate Ding and yet one more confidante such as Guangdong party boss Li Changchun. Gatekeeper
According to a Beijing source close to deliberations at the congress, Ding is important to Jiang's power calculus because of the conservative cadre's standing in the still-powerful Deng Xiaoping Faction of the party. "Ding, a long-time bridge partner and gatekeeper of Deng's, has maintained close ties to Deng followers, particularly those in the People's Liberation Army," the source said. "Ding's role will be to pacify those Deng Faction affiliates who are unhappy at Jiang's harsh tactics to sideline Hu." After all, Hu was picked by the late patriarch in 1992 as the "core" of the Fourth -- or younger -- Generation of leaders. And it is well-known in party circles that it was out of misgivings about Jiang's conservative leanings that the master reformer decided to choose somebody who had no links whatsoever to the Shanghai Faction. Diplomatic analysts in Beijing said apart from the age factor, there were many impediments to Ding making it to the PSC. Jiang's cynical move has met with fierce opposition from four incumbent PSC members: Hu, Zhu, Head of the party disciplinary commission Wei Jianxing, and the Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Li Ruihuan. "Jiang may try to explain away the age factor by insisting that an exception be made for Ding – just as an exception was made for himself at the 15th Congress five years ago," said an Asian diplomat in Beijing. Master list"A much stiffer challenge is whether the Shanghai Faction can persuade the 2000-odd delegates to elect Ding as a Central Committee member." While the delegates must vote in accordance to a "master list" given them by party authorities, there is a small cha'e, or "margin of elimination." According to past practice, the number of officially approved candidates will outnumber the seats up for grabs by about 5%. At the 13th Congress in 1987, another arch-conservative cadre, Deng Liqun, was rejected by delegates despite the fact that he was originally slated for Politburo membership. Political analysts in Beijing said Jiang's Byzantine maneuvers had already triggered a backlash among cadres outside of the president's faction. Apart from his sponsorship of Ding, anti-Jiang sentiments have focused on two other attempts by the president to strengthen the Shanghai Clique. One was Jiang's suggestion that Zeng be made a vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC). Heavy-handed
It is understood that Jiang, CMC Chairman since 1990, has made it a condition of his retirement from the policy-setting military organ that Zeng be given a senior post there. Zeng's induction to the CMC, however, will constitute a threat to Hu, who is in line to succeed Jiang as the commission's chairman. At the same time, Jiang's heavy-handed attempts to force CPPCC Chairman Li Ruihuan, 68, to retire from the Politburo has engendered widespread ill-feelings. Li, a carpenter-turned-politician, is a charismatic leader with a sizeable following particularly among reformist officials and intellectuals. Seasoned China watchers say it is instructive that Li struck a posture of defiance while meeting congress delegates from the city of Tianjin last Saturday. In his opening address to the congress a day earlier, Jiang had dwelled on the importance of his pet "Theory of the Three Represents" -- that the party must represent the foremost productivity, the most advanced culture, and the fundamental interests of the masses. Immediately after Jiang's speech, most cadres heaped praise on the Three Represents Theory as "the foundation of the party, the cornerstone of governance and the source of [national] strength." 'Separate ways'While talking to the Tianjin delegates, however, Li only focused on the question of whether the party had adequately represented the fundamental interests of the masses. Li cited instances of the party having "gone separate ways from the masses -- and even gone against the masses' interests," adding that problems in this area had become more acute in recent years. Was Carpenter Li -- as the CPPCC chief is fondly known in Beijing -- hinting that Jiang's bid to bolster the vested interests his own faction had violated the party's serve-the-masses credo? After all, Jiang had, in his speech to the congress, pledged to pick up on the threads of political liberalization. The president specifically vowed to observe "scientific, democratic and systematic" norms in the area of the appointment and removal of cadres. Jiang also noted that the party must "strengthen the internal supervision of the leadership corps, and improve decision-making procedures with regard to major matters [of state] and the appointment of senior officials." The septuagenarian's apparent effort to hang on to power through his underlings, however, has cast serious doubts on his -- and the party's -- commitment to political reform.
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