Hu Jintao, military clash over strategies

On Jan. 11, China completed its first successful test of an anti-satellite weapon by shooting down one of its weather satellites, thus demonstrating that it has the ability to shoot down the satellites of other countries. The action has drawn concern from the US and other nations.

Oddly China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs was reluctant to admit the test had been conducted, while the People's Liberation Army (PLA) appeared to mock the US.

A spokesman for China's foreign ministry said lightly that they did not know of any such test and that they did not have time to verify such reports.

Major General Peng Guangqian (彭光謙) of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences said that China already possessed the capability to send astronauts into space, so the destruction of a satellite was just "ordinary" technology.

He also said that the US "seems a bit jumpy" about the anti-satellite test.

Despite China's insouciance, then going ahead with the test was clearly intended to provoke the US.

It was not until Jan. 23 that China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed news reports about its satellite test.

The reason different Chinese officials gave different statements on the test hints at an internal power struggle among high-level officials.

Chinese Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and the PLA are both intent on making China an unrivaled world power. However, their methods differ.

Hu former president Deng Xiaoping's (鄧小平) strategy of "dimming our lights and thriving in the shadow," and has even toned down the strategy and made it more manipulative.

The PLA is taking the tougher, directer approach and wants in particular to manifest the military's influence before this autumn's 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or to help former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) and his supporters pose a potential challenge to Hu.

This will without a doubt vex Hu, since he has been working hard to present China to the international community as on the road to "peaceful development" rather than posing a threat to other countries.

His reason for this is to gain access to more advanced military and space technology from Western nations.

But the PLA could spoil Hu's strategy.

What happening now is a direct result of escalating tensions between Hu and the PLA.

Rumor it that during a military inspection in Qingdao, Shandong Province, last year, the destroyer on which Hu was traveling was fired on by two PLA frigates.

In addition, PLA Beijing Garrison commander Lieutenant General Qiu Jinkai (邱金凱) was recently dismissed after less than a year at his post, as was Major General Dong Jishun (董吉順) who had been based in Beijing for many years.

Also, the death of Zhang Dingfa (張定發), navy commander and member of the CCP's Central Military Commission, was only reported in a low-level navy publication, the Renmin Haijunbao.

Moreover, although the PLA's air force boasted about its first J-10 jet fighters, the news soon disappeared off the radar.

The US has been carefully watching the expansion of China's military abilities and has applied stringent regulations on exports to China.

But if Hu continues his strategy of charming the international community, it could succeed in getting those regulations changed.

The US won the Cold War. But in China in faces a different kind of challenge.

Paul Lin is a political commentator based in Taipei.

Translated by Lin Ya-ti