The removal of a stone plinth sign written by former Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) at the entrance of a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) training center is not a sign of disrespect, a senior official said yesterday, after rumors of destabilizing party infighting.
Jiang stepped down as party leader in 2002 and state president in 2003, but remained head of the military for another year after stacking the party’s Politburo Standing Committee with his allies.
Jiang is said to remain influential and rumors periodically circulate in leadership and diplomatic circles about him, especially related to arguments between him and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) about policy, which, with China’s political system being as opaque and secretive as it is, are impossible to verify.
So when a stone sign for the Central Party School, which was written in Jiang’s distinctive calligraphy, was removed from the front entrance early last month, speculation spread that it was a sign of infighting between Xi and Jiang and that Xi was signaling his displeasure with Jiang.
The party’s official People’s Daily had already criticized unnamed officials who clung to power after retirement and caused party splits.
Asked whether the party leadership was trying to send a message with the sign’s removal, Zhuo Zeyuan (卓澤淵), head of the school’s department of political science and law, said he was aware of the concern this issue had attracted at home and abroad.
Speaking at a news conference ostensibly about a military parade this week marking the end of World War II, Zhuo said the plinth had been moved to within the school’s ground, as too many people had been stopping outside on the main road to take pictures of it and that had become a safety issue.
“Also, the Central Party School is undergoing a full refurbishment, and moving it to the front of the main building in fact does not mean any disrespect to comrade Jiang Zemin. We still respect him as before,” said Zhuo, who has given lectures to the Politburo Standing Committee.
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