Zeng Qinghong and Mount Jinggang

In anticipation of the 17th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) congress coming up soon, here are further tit-bits from the last congress in 2002.

In November 2001, Jiang Zemin (江泽民) reportedly wanted to revive the post of Central Military Commission (CMC) General Secretary for his protege Zeng Qinghong (曾庆红).

But the idea had to be abandoned because of great resistance within the party against "this overt display of favoritism", according to a February 2003 article by ex-journalist Chin Cheong. Incidentally, it is with extreme regret that Chin is still languishing in Chinese jail, and is reportedly in poor health right now.

Speaking of Zeng, apart from his strong paternal pedigree, his maternal pedigree is no less impressive. His mother used to head an informal kindergarten attended by children of high-ranking officials and officers.

While Zeng was largely seen as a Jiang protege, there were indications even in 2003 that he made it a point to tread a fine line between being the loyal protege and not alienating himself from, if not getting into the good books of Hu Jintao (胡锦涛).

But as Chin noted, Zeng's surprise visit to Mount Jinggang (井纲山) after he was elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee that year bewildered many.

Mount Jinggang has long been regarded as the cradle of the communist movement. It was the first stronghold seized by the CCP after it established the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 1927.

Since then, it has become a monument of sorts for the CCP. Because of its historical significance, only the No 1 man in the Party, as an unwritten rule, would make a pilgrimage there. Other senior leaders would avoid such a gesture lest it caused suspicion.

Hence, when Zeng visited Mount Jinggang, it immediately sparked off gossips that Zeng's move betrayed his ambition.