Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Yet, in a potentially ominous sign, the country's top Communists also promoted two potential successors as part of a new leadership lineup.
The move, likely a compromise adopted to postpone a final decision, created the potential for internal divisions, an old bugbear for a party obsessed with unity but that has repeatedly suffered near-lethal splits during its history.
"We are keenly aware of our difficult tasks and great responsibilities," Hu said while introducing the new nine-man Politburo Standing Committee, the party's highest body.
Hu was also reappointed chairman of the commission controlling China's 2.3 million-member armed forces, which are officially loyal to the Chinese Communist Party and not the state. Hu wrested that position from his predecessor, Jiang Zemin (
Yesterday's announcement of a new leadership lineup marked the end of months of in-house bargaining over high-level posts that saw Hu purge one Politburo member who had criticized Beijing's policies.
The concessions Hu was forced to make became clearer with the inauguration of a new Politburo Standing Committee containing five holdovers from the last leadership and four newcomers.
Hu had been seen as favoring the new leadership's youngest member, Li Keqiang (
However, Li was outranked on the new committee by the 54-year-old Xi Jinping (習近平?, Shanghai's party secretary, who is less beholden to Hu and emerged in recent weeks as a compromise candidate for leaders who feared giving Hu too much sway.
Li is identified with Hu's supporters drawn partly from the Communist Youth League, and Xi, the son of an influential veteran revolutionary, with the traditional party elite and more prosperous coastal provinces.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a