Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Home
Business
Business Home
Economy
Technology
Media
Small Business
Legal
Deals
Earnings
Social Pulse
Business Video
The Freeland File
Aerospace & Defense
Markets
Markets Home
U.S. Markets
European Markets
Asian Markets
Global Market Data
Indices
M&A
Stocks
Bonds
Currencies
Commodities
Futures
Funds
peHUB
World
World Home
U.S.
Brazil
China
Euro Zone
Japan
Mexico
Russia
India Insight
World Video
Reuters Investigates
Decoder
Politics
Politics Home
Election 2012
Campaign Polling
Political Punchlines
Supreme Court
Politics Video
Tech
Technology Home
MediaFile
Science
Tech Video
Tech Tonic
Social Pulse
Opinion
Breakingviews
Money
Money Home
Tax Break
Lipper Awards 2012
Global Investing
MuniLand
Unstructured Finance
Linda Stern
Mark Miller
John Wasik
James Saft
Analyst Research
Alerts
Watchlist
Portfolio
Stock Screener
Fund Screener
Personal Finance Video
Money Clip
Investing 201
Life
Health
Sports
Arts
Faithworld
Business Traveler
Entertainment
Oddly Enough
Lifestyle Video
Pictures
Pictures Home
Reuters Photographers
Full Focus
Video
Reuters TV
Reuters News
Article
Comments (0)
Full Focus
Editor's choice
Our top photos from the past 24 hours. Full Article
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
China warns U.S. not to take sides in sea disputes
|
11:16am EDT
Impunity for the rich and famous leaves Thais outraged
7:19am EDT
Iran could strike U.S. bases if Israel attacks: Hezbollah
1:51am EDT
Iran could strike US bases if Israel attacks: Hezbollah
03 Sep 2012
Obama, Democrats to make their case as convention opens
|
11:22am EDT
Discussed
153
Exclusive: Pentagon threatens legal action over bin Laden book
132
Romney tells voters to move on from Obama disappointment
76
At Jackson Hole, a growing fear for Fed’s independence
Sponsored Links
Pictures
Reuters Photojournalism
Our day's top images, in-depth photo essays and offbeat slices of life. See the best of Reuters photography. See more | Photo caption
Refighting Napoleon
Re-enactors refight Borodino, a pivotal battle in Napoleon's invasion of Russia that lead to his defeat. Slideshow
A day of labor
As the U.S. and Canada celebrate Labor Day, a look at the labors of workers around the world in the past 24 hours. Slideshow
China's next leader buoyed by fresh setback for Hu: sources
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Assaults, an orgy - China's Communist Party battles image problem
7:59am EDT
Clinton warns against coercion in South China Sea dispute
Mon, Sep 3 2012
REFILE-UPDATE 1-INSIGHT-Does China's next leader have a soft spot for Tibet?
Fri, Aug 31 2012
Exclusive: China considers downgrading domestic security tsar in next line-up
Wed, Aug 29 2012
Breakingviews: The what, when and Hu of China's big changeover
Tue, Aug 28 2012
Related Topics
World »
China »
China's Vice President Xi Jinping speaks with Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi (not pictured) during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing August 29, 2012.
Credit: Reuters/How Hwee Young/Pool
By Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING |
Tue Sep 4, 2012 10:00am EDT
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's next leader, Xi Jinping, looks to have emerged politically stronger after ruling Communist Party elders foiled a second attempt by outgoing President Hu Jintao to stack the top echelon of the new administration with his own allies.
Hu had been maneuvering to promote his star protege, Hu Chunhua, to the party's supreme decision-making body, the Politburo Standing Committee, as part of the current leadership transition, but other senior party figures have opposed the idea, two independent sources said.
Hu Chunhua, who is not related to Hu Jintao, is instead likely to be given one of China's biggest but also most testing political assignments as new party chief of southwestern Chongqing, the job from which disgraced politician Bo Xilai was ousted, said the sources with ties to the top party leadership.
The sideways move for Hu Chunhua, currently party boss for Inner Mongolia, follows the demotion of another of Hu Jintao's closest allies at the weekend - both taken as signs that Xi may have a relatively freer hand to forge consensus among peers.
"Hu's (Jintao) loss is Xi's gain," one of the sources with ties to the leadership told Reuters, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject. "Xi is in a less difficult situation."
China, currently mired in an economic downturn, faces growing calls for it to step up the pace of economic and social reforms, a task that could prove trickier for Xi if the Standing Committee were to include politicians reluctant to make changes to the cautious direction set by Hu over the past decade.
But the situation remains fluid, with the make-up of the new Standing Committee, currently comprising nine members, still to be finalized in a once-in-a-decade transition to be unveiled at the party's 18th congress, expected next month at the earliest.
Wu Guoguang, a political scientist at University of Victoria in Canada and a former party insider, said Xi would be the clear beneficiary if Hu Chunhua failed to make the Standing Committee.
"Hu's influence over Xi after the 18th congress would be weak," said Wu, a former policy adviser and speech writer to purged party chief Zhao Ziyang in the late 1980s. Hu's allies in the Standing Committee could serve as a "check and balance" on Xi, he said.
SECOND SETBACK
Hu Jintao's first setback in the leadership transition came at the weekend when Ling Jihua, a close ally who currently fulfils a role similar to cabinet secretary, was demoted after a scandal involving Ling's son.
The son was involved in a fatal crash involving a luxury sports car in Beijing in March, source have said, an incident that caused a storm of Internet rumors and shone an embarrassing light on the lifestyles of the children of the party's elite.
Hu Chunhua, however, is seen as a possible eventual successor to Xi as president, given he is only 49 and that there is still time for his elevation to the Standing Committee before Xi eventually steps aside.
Xi himself catapulted to the Standing Committee only at the 17th congress in 2007. He is heir-apparent to succeed Hu as party chief at the 18th congress and as president next year.
One source linked to the party leadership said President Hu still held hopes for his protege, known as "Little Hu", to become party boss of the country's financial capital, Shanghai, a more prestigious and high-profile post than the Chongqing job.
But this was a more remote prospect now, the sources said.
"I believe Hu Chunhua is still (being) groomed to be future leader. I think the crucial test is actually whether he can make it to the Politburo," said Joseph Cheng, a political science professor at City University of Hong Kong.
"(It) is a horizontal transfer. It definitely shouldn't be seen as a demotion."
In taking on the Chongqing post, Hu Chunhua would take over the old power base of Bo Xilai whose career unraveled this year after his wife was accused of murder in China's biggest political scandal in two decades.
"If he's going to go to Chongqing, he will face a lot of challenges because of the legacy of Bo Xilai," said Bo Zhiyue, senior research fellow at the East Asian Institute of the National University of Singapore.
Bo Xilai was an ambitious politician who turned Chongqing into a showcase for policies that appealed to the masses and party leftists but also made him powerful enemies in Beijing.
"How is he going to manage this place to make sure there are no major problems over the next five years and accumulate performance credit to make sure he gets into a higher position later on?" said Bo Zhiyue, who is not related to the ousted party boss.
In a consolation prize for President Hu, Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong has been promoted to the capital's party boss. Guo is a Hu ally and likely to be promoted to the Politburo.
(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING, Sisi Tang in HONG KONG and Kiyoshi Takenaka in TOKYO; Editing by Mark Bendeich and Nick Macfie)
World
China
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Edition:
U.S.
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
Back to top
Reuters.com
Business
Markets
World
Politics
Technology
Opinion
Money
Pictures
Videos
Site Index
Legal
Bankruptcy Law
California Legal
New York Legal
Securities Law
Support & Contact
Support
Corrections
Connect with Reuters
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
RSS
Podcast
Newsletters
Mobile
About
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
AdChoices
Copyright
Our Flagship financial information platform incorporating Reuters Insider
An ultra-low latency infrastructure for electronic trading and data distribution
A connected approach to governance, risk and compliance
Our next generation legal research platform
Our global tax workstation
Thomsonreuters.com
About Thomson Reuters
Investor Relations
Careers
Contact Us
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.