Posted on 10/19/2011 2:08:09 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
There were no balloons, no banners, no rallies or slogans. The official Chinese press maintained radio silence and even the country's looser-lipped bloggers didn't dare to speculate on what happened behind closed doors.
No matter that 365 of the most powerful people in China, the members of the Communist Party's Central Committee, had wrapped up a four-day session Tuesday, presumably including discussions for a hand-over of leadership in 2012. Politics, particularly personnel matters, receives scant coverage from Chinese media.
...
The official New China News Agency said the Central Committee's meeting included discussion of how to improve the nation's "cultural soft power," meaning how the country projects its image overseas, and "cultural security," presumably controlling the Internet and new media. There was no mention of an upcoming leadership transition.
"The Central Committee is like the College of Cardinals choosing a pope in their conclave, but at least in Rome, we know what the smoke signals are," said Patrick Chovanec, an associate professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University.
At the National Party Congress, seven of the nine members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo will be set to retire because of informal rules requiring officials to step down at 68.
It will be the most important transition of power in China in a decade. President Hu Jintao, who will have already served the limit of two five-year terms, is to be succeeded by Xi Jinping, the current vice president. If all goes according to plan, Xi will .. take over as president in 2013. Premier Wen Jiabao's successor looks to be Vice Premier Li Keqiang.
"Obviously, they were talking about personnel to decide on the next generation of leadership," said Jin Zhong, a political analyst based in Hong Kong. "But all the decisions are made internally. There is no transparency."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
canI buy you a beer?
I wonder if their collapsing stock market, sky high construction loan default rate, and huge world wide drop in demand for their cheap stuff was a topic of discussion.
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