Xi JInping

I describe in the first edition of my book “Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements” that China’s current political system is the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) Dynasty with a core of leadership equivalent to an emperor. Jiang Zemin remained the core after full retirement and it was Jiang who selected Xi Jinping as Hu Jintao’s successor as the general secretary. I said that it was my speculation that Jiang selected Xi, but it was a well-based logical speculation.

There has been much debate whether Jiang remaind dominant in the decade after his retirement, but the fact that Jiang presided over a Politburo meeting on September 28, 2012 and decided the date of the 18th CCP Congress and harsh punishment of Bo Xilai, has put an end to the debate. Jiang remains the core equivalent to an emperor.

In the section entitled “Succession to the Core Is the Trickiest Problem” in Chapter 6 “Succession to the Core, a Real Problem—Tiananmen Helped Jiang Become the Core,” I said,

One thing quite interesting in Chinese politics is that there are no definition, codes or rules whatever about the power of an emperor in the past and the core of the Party now. In fact, even if there are some codes or rules, there is no institution or mechanism to enforce them.

An emperor could have absolute power like Emperor Shihuangdi of Qin (259–221 BC), but might have almost no power like Shihuangdi’s successor Huhai, whose power was usurped by Zhao Gao, a eunuch.

That is why the art for being an emperor is so important for an emperor or core.

People, especially those outside China, think that it is unbelievable that Jiang is able to remain dominant years after his full retirement, but it is not difficult if one has mastery of the art for being an emperor.

In Chapter 1 of my book, I describe the emergence during the Cultural Revolution of a new generation of talented scholars with moral integrity who were making preparations for seizing state power. One thing they studied hard was the art for being an emperor. As a result, there are some scholars who have mastery of the art.

In the section entitled “Chinese Art for Being an Emperor” in Chapter 10 of the second edition of the book, I describe China’s richest tycoon Zong Qinghou’s art for being an emperor:

Looking back, I think that the art must be quite useful for an entrepreneur or executive because it in essence is an art of leadership.

When I read the report on the Sino-foreign joint venture disputes between Wahaha, a food giant in China, and Denon, a French multinational food giant, I was impressed that when Wahaha’s head Zong Qinghou had resigned, Denon could not effectively control Wahaha’s enterprises though it had a controlling shareholding of 51%. For years, all the managers, staff and workers in Wahaha remained loyal to Zong. Zong was just like the core in CCP. He remained in control though he was no longer the chief executive. Zong certainly has a mastery of the art for being an emperor that is indispensable for not only an emperor but also the core of CCP.

In Chapter 13 of the second edition “Fierce Battle for Succession to the Core—Xi Jinping’s Position as Hu Jintao’s Heir Precarious” there are the following passages and subheadings on recent fierce power struggle for succession:

In the second edition, in Chapter 6, I said succession to the core was a real problem, but in Chapter 12, I said that Xi Jinping has proved his competence and has been selected by Jiang Zemin as his successor as the core of the leadership of the CCP Dynasty; therefore, if in the coming two decades, if Xi remains alive and healthy, there will be no problem of succession to the core. However, as I am going to describe, Xi’s succession to Jiang as the core has been the outcome of a fierce power struggle between reformists and conservatives

Bo Xilai Began to Covet the Top Post

At stake was the succession to the core.  It struck him that Xi Jinping was very lucky as when Xi took over from Hu Jintao, Xi would have the greatest chance to succeed Jiang as the core of party leadership as Jiang would be 86 by that time.

Evidence of Bo Xilai’s Ambition to Grab the Right of Succession SCMP described in its report the story given by businessman Chen Guixian about how he was arrested and tortured by more than 20 police under Bo’s close assistant Wang Lijun.

Chen said that they kept custody of him in a motel room…. they beat him up repeatedly to force Chen to admit the framed-up crime of giving former Chongqing mayor Wang Hongju 2 million yuan in bribes. Chen refused….

Despite such tortures for 37 days, Chen remained defiant. He told the police what they did was illegal and they could not produce any documents for the arrest. In addition Chen told them, “The government has policy and law.” SCMP says in its report: “Chen said the police replied that Bo Xilai was the policy and that his police chief, Wang Lijun, was the law.”

“‘Don’t you realise that our secretary Bo Xilai will become the president in the future, and that our police chief Wang will become minister Wang,’ they said. ‘But you may not live to see that, you zombie. You’re going to die if you don’t confess.’”

In the section “Signs of Jiang Zemin’s Intention to Have Xi Jinping Succeed Him as the Core” in Chapter 16, there is the following description:

In CCTV prime time news report on January 22, 2013, the wreaths placed in Jiang’s name came behind that of President Hu Jintao, party general secretary Xi Jinping and other Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) members at the funeral service for General Yang Baibing, who died at the age of 93 in Beijing on January 15, 2013.

It was the first time that Jiang’s name had been placed behind that of Politburo Standing Committee members other than the general secretary since he retired as general secretary at the 16th Party Congress in 2002 and stood down from his last official post as chairman of the Central Military Commissions in late 2004.

In a Xinhua report earlier on the funeral of Bishop Ding Guangxun on November 27, 2012, Jiang’s name remained behind Hu and Xi but ahead of PSC member National People’s Congress chairman Wu Bangguo and Premier Wen Jiabao.

Xinhua says the change of order was done at Jiang’s request. The CCP is very particular about the order of appearance of leaders’ names in its official reports. The recent change in the order indicated Jiang’s desire for Xi to take over as the core.

In fact, due to Jiang’s position as the core that has the final say, no one dare to change the order except Jiang.

This new order is confirmed by Hunan Satellite TV’s report on August 29 on the funeral service of Liu Xiyao, an official well-known for his contribution to the development of China’s atomic bomb and ICBM. The order of names of the leaders and elders whose wreaths were shown on the screen is: current Politburo Standing Committee members Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Zhang Dejian, Yu Zhengsheng, Liu Yunshan and Wang Qishan; and elders Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, Zhu Rongji, Wei Jianxing, Li Lanqing, Wu Guanzheng, Li Changchun, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang.

Jiang Zemin has kept his promise to have his name moved behind the current Politburo Standing Committee members.

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Categories: Politics & Law

Tags: Bo Xilai, CCP Dynasty, China, Chinese politics, Hu Jintao, Jiang Zemin, Jiang Zeming, Politics, Xi Jinping, Zong Qinghou