October 28, 2002. Copyright, 2002, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Profile of ChinaÕs little-known heir apparent, Hu Jintao
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, October 28, Graphic News:  ChinaÕs vice-president, Hu Jintao, has a date with destiny. In fact, he has had it for a decade but as BeijingÕs rulers jostle for position a week before the the 16th Communist Party congress, it looks increasingly likely that this date may be postponed. Rumours fly that Jiang Zemin does not want to hand over power just yet, leaving the next generation in limbo.

Hu has led the race to lead China since he was handpicked by former Supreme Leader Deng Xiaoping in 1992. If Jiang, 75, does welsh on an earlier promise to step down, Hu will not come away from the congress empty-handed: he is expected to add party chief and military commander-in-chief to his portfolio, and possibly rise to president next year.

But who is Hu? In a historical line-up that includes Mao, Deng and even Jiang (once known as the ÒFlowerpotÓ in Shanghai because of his showy presentation), the most startling thing about ChinaÕs top candidate for president is his apparent lack of personality. Often described as ÒblandÓ or ÒshadowyÓ, HuÕs political and ideological views are something of an enigma. 
 
Biographical details are scant. Hu, 59, trained as an engineer at the elite Qinghua University and served as provincial governor in Tibet and Guizhou before being catapulted to the Politburo standing committee in 1992. It is said that he has a firm handshake, a photographic memory and a serious demeanour. It is hard to imagine Hu seizing the microphone to sing ÒLove Me TenderÓ as Jiang Zemin did after a dinner with Philippine President Fidel Ramos in 1996.

On HuÕs colourless dossier, however, there is a small dark stain: HuÕs tenure in Tibet, where he is associated with brutal tactics against opponents of Chinese rule. Three months after he took over in December 1988, Chinese security officers fired on protesting Tibetans, reportedly killing between 100-700. Three days later Hu imposed martial law. Claiming altitude sickness, he served most of the rest of his tenure back in China.

If he is an unknown quantity throughout most of the world, in Tibet Hu is remembered with fear and loathing. As part of his grooming for the presidency, he toured Europe in late 2001, taking in tea with Queen Elizabeth and talks on terrorism with RussiaÕs Vladimir Putin. But he suffered embarassment when the presence of protesters forced him to use the back door when meeting Tony Blair at Downing Street.

China got its first glimpse of him on the national stage in 1999, when Hu justified protests outside the U.S. Embassy by saying they were expressions of Òpatriotic angerÓ after Nato bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. And it was Hu who handled the April 2001 crisis when a U.S. spy plane collided with a Chinese fighter jet, causing ripples in ties with the White House.
 
But his main achievement to date may have been to steer clear of controversy and cling to his entitlement to the presidency. After all, previous heirs in waiting have suffered worse than a prolonged wait: Zhao Ziyang has been under house arrest since he fell out of favour in 1989. In China, where folk wisdom has it that Òthe bird that sticks its neck out gets shotÓ, Hu has wisely kept quiet.

If Jiang remains in power after November, it may be for any number of reasons. He is believed to feel that five years in power is too little for a Chinese leader, and that he has more work to do in setting China on the road to becoming a middle-class nation. As far as Hu is concerned, it has been said that he is too inexperienced, and this is something with which many in the West might agree. So far no one knows if Hu has a vision to lead China into the 21st century, whether or not he would speed up political reform, or how he would handle Tibet.

ItÕs not just Hu who is waiting.
/ENDS