Tuesday, July 11, 2000
Jiang's eldest son tipped to
play key role
WILLY WO-LAP LAM
President Jiang Zemin's eldest son, Dr Jiang Mianheng, is tipped to
play a big role in mainland politics after the pivotal 16th
Communist Party Congress slated for 2002. And Mr Jiang and other
senior Politburo members have decided to speed up the pace of
rejuvenation to ensure the party is fit for the 21st century.
A party source said yesterday Mr Jiang, 73, had recently started
to consult his 47-year-old son on a broad range of affairs of state.
Last year, Dr Jiang, an engineer who graduated from Drexel
University in the United States, was appointed a vice-president of
the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Dr Jiang, who runs several hi-tech
companies based in Shanghai, has continued to maintain an interest
in the Internet and telecoms after his appointment to the
vice-ministerial position.
"Up to last year, President Jiang mainly talked about hi-tech and
related subjects with his son," the source said. "In recent months,
however, the younger Jiang has advised his father on matters ranging
from politics and economic policy to foreign affairs. He is expected
to play a big role in party and government affairs after the 16th
party congress."
A Western diplomat in Beijing said that when Mr Jiang was
criticised last year for giving the senior position to his son, a
Jiang aide pointed out that late patriarch Deng Xiaoping had also
agreed to his daughter, Deng Nan, being made a vice-minister of
science and technology.
"It is assumed in political circles in the capital that the
younger Jiang will one day play a role comparable to the two
powerful daughters of Deng, Deng Nan and Deng Rong," the diplomat
said. "Some cadres claim Jiang [Mianheng] has eclipsed even close
aides of the President such as [Organisation Department of the
Communist Party chief] Zeng Qinghong and [Vice-President] Hu Jintao.
In any case, the young Jiang is being treated with a lot of respect
by senior officials."
Meanwhile, solid steps have been taken to speed up rejuvenation
in both civilian and military sectors. It is believed Mr Jiang and
Mr Zeng, who have a dominant say in personnel arrangements at the
16th congress, want more than a token number of cadres in their 40s
to be inducted to the Central Committee and the Politburo.
The pro-Beijing Hong Kong daily Wen Wei Po reported yesterday
that Beijing would ask many cadres who had not reached the normal
retirement age of 60 to retreat from the frontline. The paper said
officials with the rank of head of department or district chief who
had reached 58 would be asked to give up their positions and instead
take up less substantial posts. The same was true of officials with
the rank of head of office or county chief who had reached 55; and
officials with the rank of section head who had reached 52.
PLA sources said several senior army officers who were close to
retirement age had asked younger officers to take over their jobs on
a de facto basis. But these officers would hold on to their
positions until their formal retirement. |
