Hu retires, younger team to take over

President Hu Jintao stepped aside as ruling party leader Wednesday to clear the way for Vice President Xi Jinping to take China’s helm as part of only the second orderly transfer of power in 63 years of Communist rule. In a possible break from tradition, Hu may also be giving up his post as head of the commission that oversees the military, which would give Xi greater leeway to consolidate his authority when he takes over. A top general indicated Hu would not stay on in the military post. Asked by Hong Kong reporters if Hu would retain his chairmanship of the military commission, Zhang Qinsheng, deputy chief of general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, said the central leadership “had no such arrangements.” Previous outgoing leaders, including former President Jiang Zemin, have held onto the military post for a transitional period to extend their grip on power. Zhang Lifan, an independent scholar in Beijing, said relinquishing all posts would be Hu’s contribution to China’s political reform. “It will be an important political legacy, as he will break the bad tradition of holding onto power by outgoing officials,” he said. Hu and other senior leaders mostly in their late 60s are handing over power to leader-in-waiting Xi and other colleagues in their late 50s over the next several months. The week-long Communist Party gathering in the cavernous Great Hall of the People ended after its 2,200 delegates from around the country selected a new Central Committee of 205 party members. Xi was renamed to the committee, a widely expected development that was singled out by state media, suggesting he was firmly positioned to be announced as the party’s top leader on Thursday. Li Keqiang, designated as the next premier, also was elected to the Central Committee. Separately, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday a respected economist has been named to China’s anti-graft body as it sought to stress its resolve in fighting the rampant corruption identified as one of the biggest challenges for the Communist Party. Wang Qishan, China’s top finance official, will join the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Wang is best known for representing China in key economic talks with the United States and European Union. The congress also approved an amendment to the party constitution to include a call for “attaching greater importance to conducting oversight of cadres,” Xinhua said. The week-long forum ended with a show of unity by the delegates in the vast red-draped hall, who stood before hearing a rendition of the “Internationale,” a socialist anthem. The last word went to President Hu, who had opened the meeting with an address warning that the party faces “collapse” if it cannot halt the rampant corruption that has undermined its legitimacy. “I now announce that the 18th Chinese Communist Party Congress has come to a victorious conclusion,” said Hu, the outgoing party leader. “The congress has elected a new central committee of the party and replaced older leaders with younger ones.” In a nod to Hu’s 10 years in power, the congress upgraded his pet theory, the Scientific Outlook on Development, to rank alongside other key schools of thought in the party constitution such as Marxism-Leninsim and Mao Zedong Thought.