Conference posts show new lineup

China gave the first signals about its next leadership lineup yesterday with the appointment of Vice President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) as head organizer of the Communist Party's 16th National Congress.

Hu will be secretary general of the Congress Presidium, a body which chairs the event beginning this morning, party spokesman Ji Bingxuan said, fuelling expectations that Hu will succeed President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) as party chief.

But significantly, one of Hu's four deputy secretary-generals will be Zeng Qinghong (曾慶紅), known as Jiang's closest ally.

Ji also announced that the Congress will last for seven days until Nov. 14.

The Presidium, which Hu heads for the duration of the Congress, organizes reports and handles electoral procedures before being disbanded when the gathering ends.

Zeng's appointment as one of four deputy secretary generals was seen by analysts as a sign that Jiang is winning his political battles.

Jiang, 76, who is expected to also hand over the state presidency to 59-year-old Hu next spring, is widely rumored to be trying to pack allies onto key party committees to ensure his influence after he retires.

The naming of Hu, with Zeng closely behind him, was a clear hint of the shape of things to come, experts said.

"This shows Hu's status as the core of leadership is clear, quite confirmed," said Kou Chien-wen (寇健文), assistant research fellow of the Institute of International Relations from National Chengchi University.

Joseph Cheng, a China-watcher at the City University of Hong Kong said Zeng's appointment "is an implication he will have more important positions to come."

This heightened speculation that Zeng was likely to be elevated to the party's Politburo Standing Committee, China's top leadership body, and could even be named Hu's deputy, Cheng said.

"It may be Zeng Qinghong who runs the party machinery and [if so] he'll promote a lot of Jiang's proteges. We'll have to see what role Hu will play," Cheng said.

Meanwhile, Ji said that among other tasks, the Congress will "seek truth from facts, keep up with the times, make innovations in a pioneering spirit and rally to create a new situation in advancing the cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics."

A brand new addition to these "Chinese characteristics" is likely to be a landmark amendment to the party constitution, approving Jiang's radical proposal to allow capitalists into its ranks.

Ji used the eve of the congress to unveil a new linguistic weapon in its battle to reconcile Marxism with sweeping market reforms -- the concept of "dialectical totality."

"To develop a socialist democratic political system, the fundamental key is to strike a balance between adhering to the party leadership, the principle of the people as masters of their home and running the country according to law," Ji said.

"We should try to achieve dialectical totality among these three elements."

Ji did not explain the concept, but ruled out a Western-style system.

China has traditionally wheeled out sometimes impenetrably-worded theories to back up its policies, which have become ever more unwieldy as the chasm between political theory and reality widens.