Off-Script Scramble for Power in a Chinese Leader’s Absence

NYT ^ | 09/13/12 | IAN JOHNSON and JONATHAN ANSFIELD

[TigerLikesRooster]

September 13, 2012

Off-Script Scramble for Power in a Chinese Leader’s Absence

By IAN JOHNSON and JONATHAN ANSFIELD

BEIJING — With still no sign of China’s designated new leader, Xi Jinping, who has not been seen in public since Sept. 1, many insiders and well-connected analysts say the Chinese political ship is adrift, with factions jockeying to shape an impending Communist Party conclave.

The government has maintained its official silence about Mr. Xi’s absence. After an initial burst of chatter, blog posts alluding to Mr. Xi have been effectively smothered on China’s social media platforms, and China’s beleaguered Foreign Ministry spokesman says on a daily basis that he has no information, despite a barrage of questions from the foreign news media.

By Thursday, a number of ranking party members with years of experience following Chinese politics were generally in agreement that Mr. Xi, 59, had suffered either a mild heart attack or a stroke, forcing him to cancel his appointments.

“The most reliable information we can find is that it’s his heart,” said a senior Chinese newspaper editor who spoke only on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue among the party hierarchy. Li Weidong, a former editor of a government-sponsored reformist journal, agreed.

[TigerLikesRooster]

If they can't get through the coming party congress properly, things would get dicey in China. There would be a counterattack from the ally of currently disgraced Bo Xilai. We now have two problems in E. Asia: Chinese power strugle and unstable NK regime.

We have to get that kid off Oval Office ASAP. He is hardly the one who is capable of handling them.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[GeronL]

We know that when tyrants look weak they lash out.

[Doogle]

Chairman Meow say's "no probrem"....yet

[GeronL]

lol. very good.

[AmonAmarth]

ASAP would be Jan 20th 2013 ...seems like forever

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

ASAP would be Jan 20th 2013 ...seems like forever
_____________________________________________________

Tell me about it. :-/

[grey_whiskers]

Chairman Meow say's "no probrem"....yet

That's funny; my phrasebook reads "Mou-sey Tongue"

Cheers!

[tanuki]

There are poll reading freepers who could learn from the good Chairman.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

Time for another Cultural Revolution. Let the Red bastards kill each other. Too many people in the world anyway, and this way, a dead Red is a good Red.

singing “Kung Fu Fighting”