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At Large
China Anoints Its New CEO
Getting to know Xi Jinping won’t be easy.
The Chinese do not appoint a president so much as anoint him. The recent process began in 2007 when the new nine-man Politburo Standing Committee was formed. After five years of observation, the next president was chosen from this body. His front runner status was never in doubt, but it was also never assured. The actual settlement did not come until recently with the public recognition of Xi Jinping’s transition to the top spot to replace Hu Jintao by the end of 2012 as the country’s president, head of the military and the party. This man will be China’s new CEO. The seemingly neat evolution was the product of years of behind-the-scenes, sometimes vicious machinations among the nation’s power brokers.
In divining the future of the People’s Republic of China, analysts tend to focus on the character and background of the people chosen to assume the top leadership positions of the government and party. This is currently the case as the designated president, Xi Jinping, has visited major world capitals in an introductory tour prior to becoming Hu Jintao’s replacement later this year. The problem is that very little is known about him other than the biographical material made available by the official sources.
Much has been made of the prospective president’s lineage as the son of Xi Zhengxun, one of Mao Tse-tung’s followers during the famous “Long March,” and who became the youngest vice premier in Mao’s cabinet in the 1950s. From that sterling revolutionary beginning the Xi family fell into disfavor during the Cultural Revolution and the father was sent to prison while the young Jinping, we are told, spent the next six years on a remote farm until he was 21. By today’s standards these are excellent post-Mao credentials. Mao’s death and the ascendancy of Deng Xiaoping completely changed the family’s fortunes, as the elder Xi returned to active Communist Party life as party secretary in Guandong province.
While the young Jinping was attaining a degree in engineering from the prestigious Tsinghua University, his father was a member of the Deng inner circle that was responsible for the creation of Shenzen, the special economic zone that launched the new period of what would become the “Chinese way” of market economics. This placed the Xi family in the vanguard of new economic thinking that controversially is now called “liberal reform.” What is the most important selling point for Westerners is the action Xi Jinping’s father in 1989. The elder Xi opposed the military assault in Tiananmen Square and subsequently was forced into retirement as a result.
The question arises whether, and how much, these personal family experiences will actually matter. The nearly 59-year-old Xi Jinping above all must be considered in the broader context of China as an export-driven modernizing nation and a Chinese Communist Party whose nine-member standing committee of the politburo is the true ruling body.
There is also the determinant role of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as Xi Jinping’s personal power base. While serving as provincial leader in Zhejiang, Jinping made a point of revitalizing the contacts he had made during his earlier uniformed stint as aide de camp to Defense Minister Geng Biao. The PLA is a political force in itself, but over the last thirty years it — and its ranking officers — has gained considerable economic and commercial influence through widely-based ownership and control of property, trading, and manufacturing companies. It is clear that Jinping has carefully maintained and nurtured his military connections to good effect.
Just as important in social/political terms is Jinping’s second wife, the nationally famous singer of patriotic songs, Peng Liyuan, who is said to hold an official rank of major general in the PLA. Xi Jinping has filled in all the political boxes, including having gained — or achieved by his work experience — a doctorate in Marxist theory and ideological education. This “academic” credit is a valuable addition to his formal party résumé.
In contrast to the current president, Jinping is consistently referred to as “personable” by foreigners who have met him. As reported by State Department leaked dispatches, Jinping at an early age decided to gain political protection by becoming recognized as a party loyalist of the first order. Good humor and consistent pragmatism clearly have smoothed his way to acceptance within the Chinese Communist hierarchy.
Xi Jinping’s party credentials have allowed this member of the highest social strata in China to march steadily up the Chinese Communist Party’s post-Mao path to success. During Xi Jinping’s recent White House visit, public relations advisers from both sides used every arrow in their quiver to project a positive image. They even emphasized his over six foot height along with his tennis playing, love of American films, and a daughter attending Harvard. It all may be true but really mean little if anything about how Jinping will govern.
Certainly this future president of China has allowed nothing to stand in the way of his getting ahead. One only can expect the same dedication to success in Xi Jinping’s period as primus inter pares among the Chinese leadership. It is not unreasonable to assume he will continue to provide justification for the growth of China’s military, whether it’s its space and missile program or its effort to build a combat-ready blue water navy.
In the end Xi Jinping can and will be judged only by what occurs during his presidency, which under his predecessor has included, among other things: intelligence operations to penetrate U.S. cyber systems (civilian and military); placing the South China Sea under PRC domination; support for Iran’s unfettered nuclear development; vetoes in the UN Security Council on motions to intervene in Syria; refusal to accurately revalue China’s currency, and so on. If such issues are approached differently during the presidency of Xi Jinping, he will come to hold a unique position in China’s global relations. However, his biography notwithstanding, it would be a major surprise both to China and to the world.
About the Author
George H. Wittman writes a weekly column on international affairs for The American Spectator online. He was the founding chairman of the National Institute for Public Policy.
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JimH| 3.2.12 @ 6:57AM
Its a funny thing that more is known about Xi Jinpings earlier studies in Muscatine than is known about our president's academic past.
Alan Brooks| 3.2.12 @ 2:17PM
This is totally off-topic, but here is how brazen foreign scammers are today:
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Counter-terrorism Division and Cyber Crime Division
J. Edgar. Hoover Building Washington DC
Dear Beneficiary,
Series of meetings have been held over the past 7 months with the secretary general of the United Nations Organization. This ended 3 days ago. It is obvious that you have not received your fund which is to the tune of $850,000.00 due to past corrupt Governmental Officials who almost held the fund to themselves for their selfish reason and some individuals who have taken advantage of your fund all in an attempt to swindle your fund which has led to so many losses from your end and unnecessary delay in the receipt of your fund.
The National Central Bureau of Interpol enhanced by the United Nations and Federal Bureau of Investigation have successfully passed a mandate to the current president of Nigeria his Excellency President Good luck Jonathan to boost the exercise of clearing all foreign debts owed to you and other individuals and organizations who have been found not to have receive their Contract Sum, Lottery/Gambling, Inheritance and the likes. Now how would you like to receive your payment? Because we have two method of payment which is by Check or by ATM card?
ATM Card: We will be issuing you a custom pin based ATM card which you will use to withdraw up to $3,000 per day from any ATM machine that has the Master Card Logo on it and the card have to be renewed in 4 years time which is 2015. Also with the ATM card you will be able to transfer your funds to your local bank account. The ATM card comes with a handbook or manual to enlighten you about how to use it. Even if you do not have a bank account.
Check: To be deposited in your bank for it to be cleared within three working days. Your payment would be sent to you via any of your preferred option and would be mailed to you via FedEx. Because we have signed a contract with FedEx Express which should expire by the end of this month, you will only need to pay $135 instead of $420 saving you $285 So if you pay before the end of this month you save $285 Take note that anyone asking you for some kind of money above the usual fee is definitely a fraudsters and you will have to stop communication with every other person if you have been in contact with any. Also remember that all you will ever have to spend is $135.00 nothing more! Nothing less! And we guarantee the receipt of your fund to be successfully delivered to you within the next 48hours after the receipt of payment has been confirmed.
Note: Everything has been taken care of by the Federal Government of Nigeria, The United Nation and also the FBI and including taxes, custom paper and clearance duty so all you will ever need to pay is $135.
DO NOT SEND MONEY TO ANYONE UNTIL YOU READ THIS: The actual fees for shipping your ATM card is $420 but because FedEx have temporarily discontinued the C.O.D which gives you the chance to pay when package is delivered for international shipping We had to sign contract with them for bulk shipping which makes the fees reduce from the actual fee of $420 to $135 nothing more and no hidden fees of any sort!
To effect the release of your fund valued at $850,000.00 you are advised to contact our correspondent in Africa the delivery officer Kingsley Jo with the information below,
Name: Kingsley Jo
Email: kingsleyjo@yahoo.cn
You are advised to contact him with the information?'s as stated below:
Your full Name..
Your Address:..............
Home/Cell Phone:..............
Preferred Payment Method (ATM / Cashier Check)
Upon receipt of payment the delivery officer will ensure that your package is sent within 48 working hours. Because we are so sure of everything we are giving you a 100% money back guarantee if you do not receive payment/package within the next 48hours after you have made the payment for shipping.
Yours sincerely,
NICHOLAS STORY
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535
TELEPHONE: (206) 309-0312
FAX: (202) 666-5283
Note: Do disregard any email you get from any impostors or offices claiming to be in possession of your ATM CARD, you are hereby advice only to be in contact with Kingsley Jo of the ATM CARD CENTRE who is the rightful person to deal with in regards to your ATM CARD PAYMENT and forward any emails you get from impostors to this office so we could act upon and commence investigation.
POST American| 3.2.12 @ 8:16AM
---AS we consider the recent passage of
the brazenly ANTI-Constitutional,
chillingly North Korean NDAA 1021
---AS we lurch from the coming QE3,
and that floating 1.5 QUADRILLION in
FAKE derivatives
---AS we watch the contrived crisis and
scarcity age-endas of the long ago engineered
'awe-stare--'IT'--he' for the western takedown
and population 'easing' ('--Seee! wasn't that easy!')
---AS those CHEM-trails go into their 12th
year of official non-existence ---now richly
saturated with Fukishima fallout ---which ALSO
doesn't exist
---AS we stand probably 2 to 3 years away from
full-blown receivership to the CFR-Globalist,
US taxpayer empowered and underwritten
RED China 'Mere--ICK--CULL'
---AS Buchanan and Judge Napolitano are
hurled, and RON PAUL is dissed
---AS the preposterously Globalist 'ROME-knee'
is put forth as the emblem of the REAL America
----AS Pelosi calls for even more full spectrum
data collection, surveillance and tracking,
while sitting justice Ginzburg commits de facto
TREASON by dissing the document she's sworn
to uphold while standing on the 'Banks of De--Nile'
---AS we move toward what will be, quite possibly,
our last even nominally American, or even POST American,
Presidential campaign
AS Andrew Breitbart's untimely and sudden
end, on the virtual anniversary of the John Wheeler
murder and subsequent memory hole
of John Wheeler--- is itself dismissed as 'natural' within hours---
EVEN while it took a full week to rule on the
'Big Pharma' demise of Whitney Houston
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ?????????
----------AS WE HEAR NOT A SINGLE PEEP--------
Alan Brooks| 3.2.12 @ 1:58PM
"while standing on the 'Banks of De--Nile'"
Eh? bankers of De Niro?
"'Mere--ICK--CULL'"
Miracle On 34 Street, or Miracle Whip?
Alan Brooks| 3.2.12 @ 2:02PM
"AS we stand probably 2 to 3 years away from
full-blown receivership to the CFR-Globalist,
US taxpayer empowered and underwritten
RED China"
They already completely underwrite us, so receivership is mere formality, a MERE Ick Cull FORM-ality, as you might write with your red (Chinese) crayon gripped in your paw.
Alan Brooks| 3.2.12 @ 2:06PM
"US taxpayer empowered and underwritten
RED China"
THEY underwrite US, not vice versa.
POST American| 3.2.12 @ 10:20PM
"America better watch it
or in a couple of decades we're
going to be a minstrel show
---for RED China."
-Gore Vidal
1985
(the heyday of 'Ray-gun--ism')
----Selective memory and facile
USURY 'lodge--ICK' will NEVER do
---in this, the 11th hour of the CFR's
--long --long ---long engineered
RED China handover and TREASON OP.
Richard Baker| 3.2.12 @ 11:56PM
Has the Kenyan bowed or kowtowed, yet?