Jiang Hands Over Power, But Keeps Control

President Jiang Zemin surrendered leadership of the Communist party to his deputy, Hu Jintao, yesterday but he retains a tight grip on the back of the throne.

In a ceremony broadcast live on every national television channel, a smiling Mr Hu introduced the country to the nine-strong politburo standing committee which he will lead as party secretary. Within minutes of him doing so, it was announced that Mr Jiang will remain head of the party's military commission; a pointed reminder that Mr Hu's boss is still ultimately in charge.

Against a pictorial backcloth of majestic mountains in the Great Hall of the People, Mr Hu led his new team before the world's press, waving confidently before introducing them one by one. It was a line-up which includes six men closely linked to Mr Jiang.

Some Sinologists believe it is sensible for Mr Hu to have Mr Jiang's prestige behind him as he seeks to establish his own authority, but only if Mr Jiang does not stay on the scene for too long. Mr Hu made a point of explaining that the new guiding principle for the party's work would be Mr Jiang's doctrine that the party should be more inclusive and satisfy the material needs of all the people.

This "important thinking", he said, would be "the guiding philosophy that our party will adhere to for a long time to come" and had set the "[future] direction for our endeavour".

He also praised Mr Jiang's report to the congress, which ended on Thursday, for setting out goals for the next 20 years.

Mr Hu did not refer to the problems facing China, such as the unemployment preoccupying many, nor did he suggest the party might have failed to deliver in the past.

"We are convinced that ... the Chinese Communist party will further project its fine image before the world as a party that advances with the times in a pioneering spirit," he said.

The new leadership group includes Mr Jiang's closest adviser, Zeng Qinghong, who will occupy the pivotal role of head of the party's secretariat, from which he can determine appointments and all daily business.

Also as expected, two other senior figures will be the vice-premier, Wu Bangguo, and Wen Jiabao, who share responsibility for economic policy.

More controversial is the inclusion of the Beijing party boss and former governor of Fujian province, Jia Qinglin, who has been tarnished by a huge smuggling scandal.

Huang Ju, until recently the party boss of Shanghai (Mr Jiang's own political base), has risen rapidly to the standing committee, the politburo's inner core. Mr Huang looked extremely pleased with himself yesterday. He was joined by Li Changchun, a colleague from Guangdong who is also a Jiang loyalist.

The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Wu Guanzheng from Shandong, who is to helm the party's anti-corruption committee. This left Luo Gan, who was expected to get the anti-corruption job, as No 9, outranked by all the others. Mr Hu referred to him as their "elder brother", but that will not have softened the blow.

Mr Luo played a dubious role in the suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, and is close to the former premier Li Peng, who was widely seen as the chief villain of the crackdown.

Mr Jiang appears to have dealt a blow to his main rivals. Having forced the liberal Li Ruihuan - expected to remain on the standing committee - to resign alongside him, he has also now marginalised Li Peng, his main conservative rival.

To carry out the manoeuvre, the committee has been expanded from seven to nine. The full politburo of 24 contains several others members of Mr Jiang's clique who are based mainly in central or southern China, specifically Shanghai.

The only woman on the politburo is Wu Yi, a former foreign trade minister. Despite conventional Chinese wisdom that "they hold up half the sky" there are only four women full members of the central committee, and 194 men.