Behind closed doors
China's change of leadership, now under way in Beijing, marks the beginning, not the end, of a secretive succession struggle
AFTER more than half a century in power, and for the first time in China's history, the Chinese Communist Party is on the verge of a leadership change that involves neither the death nor the overthrow of an incumbent. At the party's 16th congress, which begins on Friday, Jiang Zemin, a man once widely dismissed as a lightweight, is likely to give up his 13-year tenure as party chief and move into semi-retirement. China will trumpet this as evidence that, in spite of all the economic and social problems the country faces, its politics are stable and its leaders are full of confidence. It will be wrong.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Behind closed doors”
From the November 9th 2002 edition
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