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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (2007)	1/10/2003 7:14:02 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 15987

Hu gives in to biggest protest since 1989 From Oliver August in Beijing timesonline.co.uk CHINA’S new leader has intervened personally in the largest student protests since the crackdown in 1989 against pro-democracy campaigners in Tiananmen Square. Hu Jintao, who was appointed General Secretary of the Communist Party in November, tried to calm 10,000 demonstrating university students by agreeing this week to their demands for an inquest into the deaths of two of their classmates. News of Mr Hu’s intervention was leaked to a newspaper close to the Government in what may be part of a campaign to establish his public credentials. The Chinese media have struggled over the past two months to explain Mr Hu’s new role in relation to the position of his sensitive predecessor, Jiang Zemin, who will hand over the state presidency to Mr Hu in March. The Hong Kong newspaper Wen Wei Po reported yesterday that the demonstration in Anhui Province, listed by the party as Mr Hu’s home province, started after three students were knocked down by a lorry outside the university campus in Hefei, west of Shanghai. It said that the protest was the largest since 1989. The crowd apparently gathered outside the headquarters of the Anhui provincial government and blocked the main streets in Hefei, capital of the province. After talking to a vicegovernor of the province, many of the protesters went to the offices of the Communist Party, apparently occupying the buildings for 15 minutes. They were demanding punishment for the driver, who is said to have ignored a red light before knocking down the students, killing two and leaving another in a coma. Alerted by security reports, Mr Hu decided to intervene, ordering that the driver be “severely punished”. He was arrested shortly afterwards. Analysts said that Mr Hu’s actions were most likely aimed at demonstrating his concern for public order and the welfare of ordinary citizens. While holding a monopoly on political power, Communist leaders are also careful to cultivate popular approval, which usually strengthens their position inside the party. The People’s Daily newspaper, the main party mouthpiece, featured a large front-page photograph and article this week showing Mr Hu sitting cross-legged in a tent on the Mongolian border. He apparently expressed concern for China’s unemployed while eating peasant foods. Shortly before Christmas, Mr Hu strengthened his grip on the levers of power by taking over the chairmanship of a task force on national security from Mr Jiang. The change of China’s overall leadership, the first peaceful transition of power in its modern history, has exposed subtle tensions between Mr Jiang and Mr Hu. Reluctant to give up power completely, Mr Jiang can still be seen jockeying with Mr Hu in official media reports. Since the party congress that appointed Mr Hu General Secretary in November, Mr Jiang has appeared 13 times on the front page of the People’s Daily, and Mr Hu six times. When the China Daily recently mentioned the two men, it referred to Mr Jiang as “President” and “leader”, while Mr Hu was merely a “top official”. When a newspaper in Anhui referred to Mr Hu as “core of the leadership”, ostensibly putting him above Mr Jiang, the editor was rebuked by the Government.