The Hindu : International : Jiang bows out of centre-stage

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Saturday, Mar 05, 2005

International

International

Jiang bows out of centre-stage

By P. S. Suryanarayana

The former Chinese President, Jiang Zemin (left), and the President, Hu Jintao, at the Fourth Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee in Beijing in this September 19, 2004 file photo. — AP

SINGAPORE, MARCH 4. Jiang Zemin today bade farewell to politics by resigning as Chairman of China's Central Military Commission (CMC). He is expected to be succeeded by the President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Hu Jintao.

The chairmanship is the last of the official positions held by Mr. Jiang, who began the calibrated process of transfer of power to the next generation by first handing over the powerful post of CPC General Secretary to Mr. Hu in November 2002.

Passing on the reins of the presidency to Mr. Hu in March 2003, Mr. Jiang, now 78, gave up his pivotal chairmanship of the CPC's Central Military Commission in September 2004. With Mr. Hu becoming the helmsman of the CPC's CMC at that time, the political stage was, in a sense, set for Mr. Jiang's offer today to make a final bow from the centre-stage.

The presidium of the National People's Congress (NPC), Parliament, adopted a draft resolution accepting Mr. Jiang's offer, which will now be deliberated upon by the third session of the 10th NPC, beginning in Beijing tomorrow, according to an official version. The NPC will elect Mr. Jiang's successor, most likely Mr. Hu.

Unique position

As Chairman of the CPC's CMC, a unique position of utmost authority in China, Mr. Jiang has pushed vigorously for the state-of-the-art modernisation of all wings of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Regional diplomats and analysts point out that he has brought considerable political "transparency" to the PLA's image. China's defence white paper is cited in this context.

Mr. Jiang's contribution is seen to be important, given the fact that he was chosen by Deng Xiaoping, in his status as the paramount leader, to run the affairs of the CPC and the country after the tumultuous events that took place at the Tiananmen Square in Beijing during the "pro-democracy campaign" by students and others in 1989.

As the CPC General Secretary and the President of China, Mr. Jiang

had propounded the "Theory of the Three Represents," which has expanded the representational character of the ruling party. While some Western diplomats have even dubbed the theory a "capitalist manifesto" of the CPC, the constitutional amendments based on Mr. Jiang's "thoughts" have redefined China's polity, according to political observers in the region.

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