Hu replaces Jiang to cap transition

Mon, 20 Sep 2004, 00:00 WIB | Source: REUTERS

Benjamin Kang Lim, Reuters/Beijing

Former president Jiang Zemin gave up the top job in China's
military on Sunday, handing over his last post to Communist Party
chief Hu Jintao to complete a historic leadership transition to a
younger generation.

The party's elite Central Committee accepted the resignation
of Jiang, 78, on the final day of a four-day closed-door plenum
and approved Hu's rise to chairman of the party's decision-making
Central Military Commission, Xinhua news agency said.

Hu, 61, who replaced Jiang as party chief in 2002 and as
president in 2003, now holds the three most powerful positions in
China, rounding out the first orderly succession in Chinese
Communist history.

"The Hu Jintao era has started," said a Chinese political
analyst who asked not to be identified.

Hu's new job puts him in charge of the 2.5 million strong
People's Liberation Army and a powerful nuclear deterrent.

The commission also includes military stalwarts Guo Boxiong,
Cao Gangchuan, and newly appointed Xu Caihou as vice chairmen,
and seven other members.

In another apparent victory for Hu, Vice President Zeng
Qinghong, a protege of Jiang, failed to be named as a commission
vice chairman or as a member as had been widely expected.

China currently has the capability to strike U.S. cities with
a force of approximately 20 long-range Dong Feng-5 missiles, each
armed with a single 4- to 5-megaton warhead, they say.

It also has some 80 to 100 other missiles that could strike
targets in Europe and Asia.

China's air strike ability is also significant.

In its annual report to Congress on Chinese military power,
the United States this year said China had nearly 3,400 aircraft,
and its share of fourth-generation planes, mainly Su-27 and Su-30
fighter-bombers purchased from Russia, was increasing steadily,

Military-based websites say China has some 14,000 tanks,
14,500 artillery pieces and 453 military helicopters, along with
63 submarines, 18 destroyers and 35 frigates.

Jiang's departure was unlikely to result in dramatic changes
to domestic, foreign and economic policies, with Hu set to pursue
the market-friendly reforms that have transformed China into the
world's seventh-largest economy.

A plenum communique reinforced expectations that the former
hydraulic engineer would not stray from Jiang's tough stand on
using force to recover Taiwan if the self-ruled island formally
declares independence -- as the plenum communique emphasized.

The party "resolutely opposes and will contain 'Taiwan
independence' splittist forces and unswervingly safeguard
national sovereignty and territorial integrity", it said.

Sources with close ties to the party and Jiang's family said
he was in poor health and had had a heart problem since 1989.

"Now that Hu takes over the top job, people will want to know
how well he can strike a balance between easing China-Taiwan
tensions, sustaining economic growth and maintaining China-U.S.
relations, particularly when there might be a new U.S. president
following November's election," said James Sung, principal
lecturer at City University of Hong Kong.

In his resignation letter, Jiang said he had retired in hopes
that his departure would standardize future generational changes.

After the plenum, Jiang smiled and shook hands with Hu and
other delegates to sustained applause. He posed for a group
photograph.

"I hope that everyone will work hard and keep advancing under
the leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Hu
Jintao as general secretary," Jiang said. "I'm convinced that our
Party's cause will witness more and bigger victories!"

Hu credited Jiang for his "outstanding contribution to the
Party, the state and the people", and thanked Jiang for his
"support and assistance" to party leaders.