Former rival helps Hu tighten his grip on China.

Three y ears after becoming China's top leade,Hu Jintao has solidified his grip on power and intimidated critics inside and outside the Communist Party with the help of the man once seen as his most potent rival.

 

Hu,China's president and Communist Party chief,and Zeng Qinghong,vice president and the amn in charge of the party's organizational affairs,have tackled the most delicate domestic and foreign policy issues as a team,governing as hard-liners with a deft political touch,former Chinese officials and scholars with leadership connections said.

 

Their bond is a surprise because Zeng was the longtime righ-hand man of the previous No 1 leader,Jiang Zemin.A skillful back-room political operator considered to have strong military ties.Zeng was long viewed as the only person capable of challenging Hu for power.

 

Instead,Zeng and Hu joined forces last year to push Jiang to retire and to give up his position as leader of China's military,party insiders said.That cleared the way for Hu to become miitary chief and weakened the formidable political network Jiang had constructed in his 13 years at the helm.

 

Their alliance has shored up the Communist Pary as it faces enormous stresses,including simmering social unrest and an uphill struggle to curtail corruption.They have quieted talk of serious factional splits and paved the way for Hu to impose his orthodox,repressive stamp on Chinese politics.

 

Hu and Zeng made back-to back addresses at a secretive party conclave in May to promote a "smokeless war " against " liberal elements" in society that they contended were supported by the US,said people who said they had been told about the speeches.

 

They have also clamped down on non governmental organizations,tightened media controls and forced all of the 70 m Communist Party members to submit self-criticisms as an act of ritualistic submission to their authorities,

 

At the same time,Hu and Zeng have taken hold and unexpected steps.They courted opposition political parties in Taiwan,plunged deeply into Hongkonf's political affairs and agreed to commemorate Zhao Ziyang,a late Communist Party leader popular among some liberals.

 

Cooperation between the men may be temporary,some people knowledgeable about the party said,but the consensus among those who follow leadership affairs is that the two have decided they have more to gain by working together than by pursuing rival agendas.

 

"Wih Hu and Zeng working together the leadership is very strong and hardline " said one person with high-level connections " I  think China can maintain stability as long as they are together " Like others interviewed for this article,this person asked not to be identified because the authorities often punish people who speak publicly about hig-level politics.

 

On paper,Hu,62,has enormous authority on his own.He was annointed as a future leader by Deng Xiaoping in 1992 at the relatively tender age of 49.He then had a decade to cultivate allies before his formal accession in 2002.

 

Even so,he was never a part of Jiang's Shanghai-linked faction,which held sway over the country since the mid 1990s.Hu now presides over the Politburo Standing Committee,the country's top ruling body,which was expanded to include nine men,at least five of whom owned their promotions mainly to Jiang.

 

Hu also lacks deep ties in the military and the government bureaucracy,having risen through the party ranks in China's western region.He has presented a cardboard,dogmatic face to the world,generating little enthusiasm among the Chinese people.

 

Zeng,66,has a very different political resume.He owes his rise mainly to Jiang.The former leader valued Zeng's military ties-Zeng's father was a revolutionary army commander and his brother is a senior military officer- and the skill Zeng displayed during the political battles Jiang
faced until late in his reign.Party officials credit Zeng with helping to eclipse several of Jiang's
political and military rivals.

 

Zeng also appears to have some clout among westerned party officials,China's class of wealthy entrepreneurs and the children of the party elite.He has taken a greater interest in China's ties with the the US than Hu has.He even plays tennis with Clark Randth Jr,the US ambassador to China.

 

Zeng assumed control of the party's day-to-day organizational affairs in 1999 and later became vice president and a member of the Politburo.That prompted speculation that Zeng might someday make a bid for top leadership posts and that he wold try to keep Hu in check in the meantime.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com

SPONSORED LINKS

Indonesia

Culture

Chinese

---

YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

•  Visit your group "budaya_tionghua" on the web.
   
•  To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
   budaya_tionghua-unsubscribe-hHKSG33TihhbjbujkaE4pw@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
   
•  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

---