Random Notes About the 16th Party Congress

Now that the dust has settled on the 17th Party Congress, I find myself reading about the 16th Party Congress. Call it 温故知新, or "gain new insights by studying old material."

At the National People's Congress held after the 16th Party Congress, Huang Ju (黄菊) - who had since died - and an ally of Jiang Zemin (江泽民) - was confirmed as Executive Vice-Premier. Huang received 91.75 per cent of delegates' vote, said to be a "poor showing" by Chinese Communist Party standards. In contrast, Ethnic Affairs Minister Li Dezhu (李德柱) received a stellar 99.76 per cent.

At his appointment, Huang was described by analysts as having little experience managing state affairs, given that he had always been a party organization man. Analysts also lamented the sidelining of Xu Kuangdi (徐匡迪), the popular former mayor of Shanghai, to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. The talk then was that Xu had to go to make way for Huang. In the words of one observer, "Xu should have been appointed one of the vice-premiers. That would have raised the image of the Cabinet. He's clearly a world-class manager."

The other three vice-premiers at that time were former state councillor Wu Yi (吴仪), former planning chief Zeng Peiyan (曾培炎), and former Jiangsu party chief Hui Liangyu (回良玉). With the possible exception of Zeng, the other two vice-premiers reportedly owed their allegiance to Jiang.

Among the five state councillors, former education minister Chen Zhili (陈致立) - also a member of the Jiang clique - received the lowest approval rating of 87.8 per cent. Another who had a poor showing was Hua Jianmin (华建敏), secretary-general of the State Council. Former foreign minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇), who replaced Qian Qichen (钱其琛) as state councillor in charge of foreign policy, received a "mixed vote."

Two state councillors who "bucked the trend" with good approval ratings were defence minister Cao Gangchuan (曹刚川) and Zhou Yongkang (周永康), who took over the public security ministry, and who was appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee since the 17th Party Congress.

At the end of the 16th Party Congress, observers noted that whether the soft-spoken Premier can handle a cabinet packed with many Jiang loyalists "rests heavily on many people's mind." A party source added that while Wen Jiabao (温家宝) may be dedicated and hardworking, "he lacks the charisma of his mentor Zhu Rongji (朱镕基) and may find it hard to assert his authority."

Lower down the hierarchy, Li Zhaoxing (李肇星) was appointed China's new foreign minister. Nicknamed by some as the "Red Guard ambassador" for his frankness, Li was also known as the "poetic diplomat." He reportedly wrote poems during his leisure, and had even published a collection of his works. His diplomatic style was said to reflect those two dimensions of his personality - "frank and firm, but not without subtlety and imagination."

On a totally different note, Hong Kong analyst Frank Ching observed in 2003 that Deng Xiaoping Theory was only incorporated into the Constitution in 1997, the year Deng died. But in 2003, that theory was already superseded by Jiang's "Theory of the Three Represents". Ching noted that Jiang was the first Chinese leader since Mao to have his thought incorporated into the Constitution when he was still alive.

Such audacity by Jiang!!

Ching also noted that instead of a hammer and sickle, the emblem of the Chinese Communist Party should be changed to a more "appropriate" one - such as one consisting of "a laptop and a dollar sign." Haha.