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Security is tight in the capital
China is gearing up for its most important Communist Party Congress in at least a decade.
More than 2,000 Party delegates from across the country will gather at 0900 local time (0100 GMT) on Friday in Beijing's Great Hall of the People, where they are set to approve a whole new set of leaders. Almost the entire current senior leadership is set to retire, including the President and Party chief, Jiang Zemin, and their likely replacements are an unknown political quantity.
The delegates are also expected to give their blessing to President Jiang's radical proposal that capitalists be allowed to join the Party.
The Congress, which meets every five years, is this year expected to usher in a younger, better educated, set of leaders. The line-up will probably be announced the day after the meeting finishes.
All change
The appointment of Vice-President Hu Jintao on Thursday as head organiser of the 16th Communist Party Congress on Thursday fuelled speculation that he will succeed Mr Jiang as Party chief.
This would almost certainly also make him president, next spring, when Politburo members give up their government jobs.
One of Mr Hu's four deputy secretary-generals at the Congress will be Zeng Qinghong - Jiang Zemin's protege.
Analysts believe this could mean that Mr Zeng will be elevated to the Party's Politburo Standing Committee - China's top political body.
Mr Jiang is believed to be trying to pack allies onto key party committees to ensure he retains his influence over Beijing's political machinations after he retires.
It is widely believed that he will also stay on as head of the Central Military Commission, which commands the 2.5 million-strong armed forces.
Labour unrest
Virtually nothing is known about Mr Jiang's expected successor, Mr Hu. Analysts are unsure whether he is a political reformer or a Party hardliner.
What is certain is that he is faced with the huge challenge of dealing with China's huge and growing wealth gap.
This has been highlighted in the run-up to the Congress by fresh reports of labour unrest by unemployed workers laid off from failing state-owned enterprises in the country's north-eastern rust belt.
In one town, thousands of angry unemployed have taken to the streets and are threatening to take their protests to Beijing if their demands are not met.
The Party is taking no chances. Hundreds of extra police have been deployed around bus and railway stations to make sure no protesters can make it to the capital, and sniffer dogs patrol Tiananmen Square looking for possible bombs.
Inviting in capitalists
The Congress will begin on Friday with Mr Jiang's work report, which will sum up the Party's achievements over the last five years and the priorities for the future.
Mr Jiang wants his theory of Party modernisation to be enshrined into the constitution, and it is likely that this will be rubber-stamped by the delegates.
It calls for a broadening of the Party membership base to encompass private entrepreneurs.
Congress spokesman Ji Bingxuan stressed on Thursday that this would not alter the essential nature of the Party.
"Instead of affecting the nature and purpose of the Communist Party of China, (enrolling capitalists) will increase the influence and cohesion of the Communist Party throughout society," he told a briefing in Beijing.
Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2415663.stm
