Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) won the blessing of his predecessor, Jiang Zemin (江澤民), before toppling the Chinese Communist Party chief in Shanghai, Jiang's stronghold, sources said yesterday as a corruption probe in the city deepened.
Beijing party sources said that Jiang, now officially retired, was consulted before Chen Liangyu (陳良宇) was dismissed on Sunday, a dramatic move that flagged Hu's determination to impose loyalty in the nation's financial hub, which has strained against his uncertain authority.
"Jiang wasn't ambushed, he was consulted," said an official familiar with communications on the case. "Jiang wrote a comment that Chen Liangyu should be sternly dealt with."
The official spoke on condition of anonymity. His comments were confirmed by a source with ties to the leadership.
Chen was involved in channeling pension funds into illegal investments and helped enrich crony companies and relatives, the party announced on Monday. He was the first member of the Politburo to be sacked since 1995 when Beijing party chief Chen Xitong (陳希同) was purged and jailed.
The probe centers on the apparent misuse of up to US$400 million from Shanghai's US$1.2 billion pension fund.
Until now, Shanghai's commercial boom has been steered by a local leadership closer to Jiang than Hu. The two men have had cool relations, with Jiang wary that Hu has dimmed his achievements and influence as the president seeks to steer China's development away from booming eastern cities to inland regions, observers say.
But Jiang, 80, appears to have decided that he can best preserve his remaining strength by approving Chen's downfall, even as he seeks to protect proteges on the CCP's Standing Committee.
"Jiang wanted to protect Chen Liangyu. Hu did not object but eventually changed his mind," said a third official, also with leadership ties.
Jiang served as mayor and party chief of Shanghai for four years until mid-1989, when he was elevated to national leader. Many Shanghai officials who served under Jiang later moved onto the national stage, where some have kept key positions to be able to act as a counterweight to Hu, who took over from Jiang as the CCP's general-secretary in 2002 and state president in 2003.
"It seems there was a bargain between Jiang and Hu," said Victor Shih, an expert on Chinese politics at Northwestern University.
"With a Politburo member removed, everyone in the party knows Hu and Wen mean business," Shih said, referring to Premier Wen Jiabao (
Jiang probably hopes to keep two Standing Committee members, proteges Huang Ju (
Meanwhile, Shanghai officials confirmed yesterday that Sun Luyi (
Sun, 52, is also head of the city's personnel department, according to the Shanghai city government's Web site.
Investigators have also questioned Shanghai's top policeman who is a nephew of Jiang, and detained two of Chen's relatives, sources said.
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