Word: jiang
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...Road dead ends at an iron gate guarded by three men in military uniforms. Beyond stands a new, three-story brick house with tan stucco trim. Known to officials as the "Shanghai No. 1 Construction Project," the property is supposed to be the retirement home of Communist Party chief Jiang Zemin. During China's 16th Party Congress that concluded last week, Jiang, 76, became the first modern Chinese supremo to resign his position. He was expected to go off and peacefully build his library?or whatever Chinese ex-leaders might do?after ceding control to Hu Jintao, 59, Jiang...
...demanding elections?and much has changed. Where the wall then stood, the new "Culture Plaza" is now strung with Christmas-style lights and emblazoned with a dozen glowing signboards. One instructs Chinese citizens to "Warmly Congratulate the Communist Party's 16th Congress." Another displays a news item about President Jiang Zemin seeking "advice" from Chinese who don't belong to the Party. Asked what he thinks of the story, a bystander replies indifferently, "These are decisions made at the top. There's no point having an opinion." The dissident is dismayed by the man's apathy. "This is the state...
...gladdens the Party. Political season is a time to express fealty. In the old days that meant waving Chairman Mao's Little Red Book and singing The East Is Red. But these days, the Party has no ideology to tout beyond Jiang's Theory of the Three Represents, and it is too pragmatic to expect public enthusiasm, genuine or feigned. Indifference is okay?better, at least, than open opposition...
...next day, Friday, the congress opens and Jiang makes his speech. It's a good thing the Party is willing to live with apathy, given that its leader seriously proclaims banalities such as: "Ensure stability as a principle of overriding importance, and balance reform, development and stability." Chinese might snicker at home, but they can't show their outrage or frustration in public. So the Party gets away with it?to the chagrin of the Democracy Wall dissident. At home, he still has a memento of that wall: a single brick he saved before the last bit was torn down...
...successors to Jiang Zemin and Co. chosen this week rose through a deliberate, meritocratic process of promotion that favors skillful politician-administrators. Yet the final list of the Party leadership was settled against the backdrop of a bitter power struggle comprising backroom lobbying and furtive corruption investigations that continued till the last possible moment. Modern information technology and a windy propaganda blitz coexist with the utmost secrecy about everything that matters: who will be elected to lead the country, how they got where they are, and what they stand...