[A-List] China: contradictions within the state

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Chinese military blasts confusion at the top
By Xu Yufang
Asia Times, March 12 2003

BEIJING - Military deputies attending the ongoing annual meeting of China's
supreme legislature, the National People's Congress (NPC), have launched a
broadside at the state of confusion at the top hierarchy of the country.

"Multi-center means no center, which will lead to no achievement," uttered
deputies Gu Huisheng and Ai Husheng after listening to a speech given by
Jiang Zemin, the incumbent chairman of China's Central Military Commission
(CMC), as reported by Tuesday's People's Liberation Army Daily.

To make their point more figuratively, the two generals cracked Chinese
characters. "One zhong and one xin together make one loyalty, but piecing
two zhongs together to one xin gives one huan, a problem." Zhong meains
"middle" and xin means "heart".   Zhongxin as a phrase means "the center".

On paper, China's top political boss is Hu Jintao, the general secretary of
the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The official order of precedence,
however, puts Jiang above him as the CMC chairman. The question therefore
hangs: who is superior, CCP or CMC?

China's official media have shied away from discussing who is now the core
or how many cores there are now since the closure of the 16th Party
Congress, where Jiang handed over the party reins to Hu but retained the
military title for himself. Now with two promising young generals making
their questions in the open, the ringing of bells should be loud and clear
enough.

Major-General Gu is the vice chief of the political department of Nanjing
Military Region, while Ai is now with the Information Technology Warfare
Unit, but is far better remembered as the colonel who led the first regiment
to occupy Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, and got rid of demonstrating
students with bloodshed.
Two more generals, Wang Shouzhi and Pang Weiyi, added further fuel to the
fire: "People have to stay away from on-paper talks, armchair talks, playing
with words or creating fancy novelties." All four items on this list have
been identified with Jiang by China's intelligentsia in the past couple of
years.

Zhang Shixian and Xing Shucheng joined the chorus with their demands to
leaders: "They should discipline themselves well, be broad-minded to others
and take the leading step as models."

That so many top soldiers have openly voiced their not-so-friendly feelings
against Jiang serves only one purpose - to tell the world they are not
behind the drive to enthrone the civilian Jiang as their nominal chief.

In fact, such noises have been heard often ever since the congress curtain
dropped. General Zhu Qi, commander of Beijing Military Region, praised all
senior cadres who stepped down during the 16th Congress as people of high
virtue. That was an indirect criticism to Jiang, the lone person who did not
join his peers in retirement. And in appealing to the whole armed force to
obey Jiang as the military chief, Zhu tacitly made the point that the
arrangement was a matter of politics.

According to the North America-based Chinesenewsnet.com, which accurately
predicted the new standing committee of the CCP Politburo well in advance,
Jiang's clinging to the military seat was approved by Hu, who was more
preferred by the military as a choice of logic.

In late 2001, a dozen top generals visited Hu at his home, to celebrate his
60th birthday (according to Chinese agrarian arithmetic, Hu was in fact then
59). Jiang later learned of the incident and harshly criticized the
soldiers, in particular General Liang Guanglie, then commander of Nanjing
Military Region, who led the throng.

Jiang's animosity could not prevent Liang from being elevated in the 2002
congress to be the PLA chief of staff and a member of the CMC. In turn,
Liang has made no reference to Jiang's "Three Represents" in public since.

It remains to be answered why Hu should support Jiang to remain above
himself. Maybe Hu was not confident enough in himself and had to give in to
Jiang's demand. Maybe he just wanted the whole world to see that Jiang is
the origin of problems Hu cannot solve in the future.

Whatever the real reasons are, the fact as pointed out by generals Gu and Ai
is undeniable: two centers make one problem.