Essential background.
Deng Xiaoping was purged in 1966, and along with him went Hu Yaobang. Deng was rehabilitated in 1973, and back came Hu. Deng was again purged in 1976, as was Hu, and re-rehabilitated in 1977 along with his buddy.
Deng put Hu in charge of the CCP Central Committee Organization Department – hugely powerful position where he was able to remove and replace cadres. Some 3 million Cultural Revolution victims were exonerated by Hu (he was very popular). Then, Deng made him General Secretary of the party, the top title. He relaxed the party’s grip, making him even more popular with the masses but a bit of a pain to the old guard.
In 1987 the elders dismissed Hu and replaced him with Zhao Ziyang. In 1989, the Tiananmen Massacre was triggered by Hu Yaobang’s death. Zhao was purged.
Jiang Zemin, party secretary in Shanghai, was hand-picked by Deng as an emergency replacement for Zhao. He had only the very weakest power base, and depended on Deng’s power to get anything done.
CCP Military Affairs Commission (MAC) secretary general Yang Shangkun, an old buddy of Deng Xiaoping’s, thought that he himself should be the next in line (Deng made him PRC State President, instead). So, he worked behind the scenes to curtail Jiang’s powers.
As MAC secretary general (Deng kept the chair for himself), Yang was in a position to initiate military exercises and missile tests. He may even have cleared it with Deng, but it wasn’t on Jiang’s agenda. Yang appears to have thought that a show of force would convince Taiwan voters to pick a more conciliatory president, but they gave him a large middle finger, and chose Chen Shui-bian. Chen was widely seen as an independence advocate, so the hard-line approach failed.
In the mid-1990s, Jiang wasn’t strong enough to stand on his own against the so-called Eight Immortals (old guard, mostly conservatives). He would never have been made party boss on his own. He only got the job because Deng’s hand-picked back-up successor, Zhao, had to be dismissed for taking a soft line on Tiananmen.
When Jiang Zemin's two terms (10 years) were up, Hu Jintao -- also hand-picked by the now-dead Deng -- was next in line. Jiang didn't have anything to say about this, but he did pack the party and military leadership with his allies. Hu never had a chance to be his own man.
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Xi Jinping is an entirely different type of player. He had his own power base, multiple ones, in fact. He worked on military matters in 1979-82 (Sino-Vietnam war era), then went down to the countryside to get some hands-on experience. He finally went to college (Tsinghua, or Qinghua, another elite powerbase) part-time, then became governor of Fujian Province opposite Taiwan. Next, Zhejiang Province (next to Shanghai), back to school (party school) and on up.
So, as the son of a former Vice Premier (Xi Zhongxun) he has the Princeling support; as a guy who worked on military issues during war, he has some military support and as an East Coast provincial cadre, he has some backing from those seeking rapid growth and liberalization.
When Jiang Zemin became party boss/president, Deng kept the MAC chair for five years.
When Hu Jintao became party boss/president, Jiang kept the MAC chair for five years.
When Xi Jinping became party boss/president, he also took the MAC chair from day one. Now, they call him the “core” of the leadership, a term Deng only used to describe Mao and no one used it to describe Deng while he was alive.
His anti-corruption campaign, he knocked off some of the most powerful military leaders of the post-Deng era. He took down Zhou Yongkang, the politburo standing committee member in charge of security (he commanded a larger force, on paper, than the PLA) and a close ally of Jiang Zemin. He took down General Xu Caihou, politburo member, MAC vice-chair, head of anti-corruption in the PLA and a member of the Central Committee Secretariat. He took down Guo Boxiong, politburo and MAC vice chair and over 30 other generals.
He also took down Bo Xilai, son of an Immortal (Bo Yibo) and a clear (rival) candidate for the politburo standing committee. He took down Hu Jintao’s former secretary, Ling Jihua. He took down former Premier Wen Jiabao’s protégé, Sun Zhengcai.
A bit long winded, but the bottom line is that the PLA needs to be reminded who’s in charge and Xi Jinping is that guy.
Deng Xiaoping was purged in 1966, and along with him went Hu Yaobang. Deng was rehabilitated in 1973, and back came Hu. Deng was again purged in 1976, as was Hu, and re-rehabilitated in 1977 along with his buddy.
Deng put Hu in charge of the CCP Central Committee Organization Department – hugely powerful position where he was able to remove and replace cadres. Some 3 million Cultural Revolution victims were exonerated by Hu (he was very popular). Then, Deng made him General Secretary of the party, the top title. He relaxed the party’s grip, making him even more popular with the masses but a bit of a pain to the old guard.
In 1987 the elders dismissed Hu and replaced him with Zhao Ziyang. In 1989, the Tiananmen Massacre was triggered by Hu Yaobang’s death. Zhao was purged.
Jiang Zemin, party secretary in Shanghai, was hand-picked by Deng as an emergency replacement for Zhao. He had only the very weakest power base, and depended on Deng’s power to get anything done.
CCP Military Affairs Commission (MAC) secretary general Yang Shangkun, an old buddy of Deng Xiaoping’s, thought that he himself should be the next in line (Deng made him PRC State President, instead). So, he worked behind the scenes to curtail Jiang’s powers.
As MAC secretary general (Deng kept the chair for himself), Yang was in a position to initiate military exercises and missile tests. He may even have cleared it with Deng, but it wasn’t on Jiang’s agenda. Yang appears to have thought that a show of force would convince Taiwan voters to pick a more conciliatory president, but they gave him a large middle finger, and chose Chen Shui-bian. Chen was widely seen as an independence advocate, so the hard-line approach failed.
In the mid-1990s, Jiang wasn’t strong enough to stand on his own against the so-called Eight Immortals (old guard, mostly conservatives). He would never have been made party boss on his own. He only got the job because Deng’s hand-picked back-up successor, Zhao, had to be dismissed for taking a soft line on Tiananmen.
When Jiang Zemin's two terms (10 years) were up, Hu Jintao -- also hand-picked by the now-dead Deng -- was next in line. Jiang didn't have anything to say about this, but he did pack the party and military leadership with his allies. Hu never had a chance to be his own man.
- - - - - -
Xi Jinping is an entirely different type of player. He had his own power base, multiple ones, in fact. He worked on military matters in 1979-82 (Sino-Vietnam war era), then went down to the countryside to get some hands-on experience. He finally went to college (Tsinghua, or Qinghua, another elite powerbase) part-time, then became governor of Fujian Province opposite Taiwan. Next, Zhejiang Province (next to Shanghai), back to school (party school) and on up.
So, as the son of a former Vice Premier (Xi Zhongxun) he has the Princeling support; as a guy who worked on military issues during war, he has some military support and as an East Coast provincial cadre, he has some backing from those seeking rapid growth and liberalization.
When Jiang Zemin became party boss/president, Deng kept the MAC chair for five years.
When Hu Jintao became party boss/president, Jiang kept the MAC chair for five years.
When Xi Jinping became party boss/president, he also took the MAC chair from day one. Now, they call him the “core” of the leadership, a term Deng only used to describe Mao and no one used it to describe Deng while he was alive.
His anti-corruption campaign, he knocked off some of the most powerful military leaders of the post-Deng era. He took down Zhou Yongkang, the politburo standing committee member in charge of security (he commanded a larger force, on paper, than the PLA) and a close ally of Jiang Zemin. He took down General Xu Caihou, politburo member, MAC vice-chair, head of anti-corruption in the PLA and a member of the Central Committee Secretariat. He took down Guo Boxiong, politburo and MAC vice chair and over 30 other generals.
He also took down Bo Xilai, son of an Immortal (Bo Yibo) and a clear (rival) candidate for the politburo standing committee. He took down Hu Jintao’s former secretary, Ling Jihua. He took down former Premier Wen Jiabao’s protégé, Sun Zhengcai.
A bit long winded, but the bottom line is that the PLA needs to be reminded who’s in charge and Xi Jinping is that guy.
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