China finally made Hu Jintao (
Jiang Zemin (
Hu, 60, the only candidate, was anointed long ago by the late Deng Xiaoping (
"These leaders will work hard to help improve lives for ordinary Chinese, especially farmers and people in state businesses," said a delegate from Hunan.
Legislative delegates reappointed Jiang chairman of the government commission that leads China's 2.5-million-member military. He already chairs an identical party commission, and there was no indication when he might give up those posts. Jiang had been party chief since 1989 and president since 1993.
Hu claimed the head-of-state title four months after succeeding Jiang as party chairman, the most powerful position in the land. He still faces challenges from rivals on the party's decision-making Politburo Standing Committee, some of them Jiang proteges.
It could be years before he consolidates control.
Though the presidency has few official powers in China, Hu's elevation to it -- and the prestige it brings on the world stage -- reinforces his status as the country's new paramount leader. But no wholesale policy shifts appeared to be on the agenda, and the emphasis was on continuity.
"It doesn't matter who holds the top leadership post," said Zhang Tinghao, a delegate from the northern province of Shaanxi. "They will all wholeheartedly represent the people and work for their interest."
China's new leaders take charge of an increasingly restive society of 1.3 billion people that is struggling to cope with unemployment, rural poverty and other strains brought on by economic reforms and competition through entry into the WTO.
Despite those transformations, China's communist political system remains a closed, secretive apparatus that harshly punishes any moves it sees as threatening its monopoly on power.
The country's second-ranking party man, Wu Bangguo (
Unlike most of the votes that came out of the National People's Congress, the one for Zeng was overwhelming but hardly near unanimous -- a possible sign, even in a rubber-stamp process, of wariness to Jiang's continued clout.
One top-level position remains unresolved. On Sunday, a new premier will be selected to replace Zhu Rongji (朱鎔基). Vice Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶), another top party official, is considered the odds-on candidate to run government operations and oversee the economy.
Hu spent the first decades of his career working in some of China's poorest and most remote areas overseeing crackdowns.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
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‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)