Maoist revival challenges reform efforts
By Senior China Analyst Willy Wo-Lap Lam
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There are festivities throughout China this week to mark the 110th birthday of late chairman Mao Zedong.
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(CNN) -- While relatively liberal cadres such as Premier Wen Jiabao are telling foreigners about Beijing's commitment to reform and human rights, conservative forces are having a field day.
The baffling contradictions within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership are illustrated by a speech given by former president Jiang Zemin earlier this month about "thought construction" in the army.
At about the same time that Wen was preaching the gospel of the open-door policy while touring the U.S. and Canada, Jiang was underscoring the imperative of soldiers "not changing their nature," a code phrase for not succumbing to the sugar-coated bullets of capitalism.
Jiang, Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), was presiding over a seminar for senior officers that was also attended by President Hu Jintao, who doubles as CMC Vice-Chairman.
"Our army is the people's army that is under the absolute leadership of the party," said Jiang.
"It shoulders the holy task of maintaining the security and unity of the state -- and provides an important guarantee for the task of building a comprehensive, well-off society."
The 77-year-old Jiang then proposed boosting ideological indoctrination with orthodox socialist precepts, including his own "Theory of the Three Represents" (that the party represents the most advanced productivity and culture, as well as the masses' interests).
Celebrating Mao
Meanwhile, CCP units nationwide are organizing marathon festivities to mark the 110th birthday of late chairman Mao Zedong, which falls on Boxing Day.
At a Mao-related commemorative event last week, Vice President Zeng Qinghong said Mao Thought, late patriarch Deng Xiaoping's teachings, and the "Theory of the Three Represents" will "guide our actions for a long time."
Also a Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) member, Zeng is Jiang's most trusted lieutenant and a main rival of President Hu's.
What is surprising, however, is that Hu, usually deemed a reform-oriented cadre, has also thrown himself headlong into the resuscitation of Marxist and Maoist norms.
At a conference on ideology and propaganda earlier this month, Hu, also party General Secretary, called on cadres to "uphold and consolidate the leading position of Marxism."
He used CCP units "to use both fists to take a firm grip" of the fields of ideas, publications and the media.
Perhaps with reference to the Taiwan Strait crisis, Hu urged media and propaganda workers to inculcate among the public ideas and artistic work that "will be beneficial to the unity of the Chinese race, the unification of the motherland, and the cohesiveness of the people."
And much earlier than Zeng, Hu had lent his authority to the mini-campaign to learn from Chairman Mao.
While touring a "revolutionary mecca" in Jiangxi Province in late summer, Hu asked local cadres to emulate the Maoist tradition of "serving the masses" and "being closely reliant upon the masses."
Nervousness
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Jiang (sitting) still wields considerable influence despite handing power to Hu (standing).
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What is one to make of these incongruously conservative messages coming from forward-looking Fourth Generation leaders such as Hu?
At least from the viewpoint of Hu and Wen, it is prudent to slap a straitjacket on ideology and the media before they can consolidate power, a process that requires at least two to three years.
Hence Hu's insistence that liberal cadres and scholars be barred from making bold calls for political reform.
And while famed Internet crusader Liu Di was released shortly before Wen's U.S. trip, several more have been subject to harassment for advocating Western-style democracy.
From a factional perspective, the Hu-Wen team is particularly nervous about CMC Chairman Jiang taking advantage of the Taiwan crisis to refuse to hand over the baton.
This is despite widespread speculation that Jiang might vacate his last remaining post at the Fourth CCP Central Committee Plenum next year.
As a party insider sees it, Jiang's address at the PLA ideological indoctrination seminar seemed an indication of his reluctance to call it quits.
"Jiang has been telling senior cadres and generals that with more than 13 years' experience in dealing with Taipei, he should continue to play a key role in combating [Taiwan president] Chen Shui-bian's 'splittist conspiracy'," the source said.
Loyalty
Moreover, Zeng and other Jiang associates are taking advantage of the Maoist revival to elevate the ex-president's standing.
In his recent speeches, the vice-president has raised Jiang to the same level as Mao and Deng, even though the two titans' status in the CCP pantheon is much higher than the ex-president's.
Beijing-based diplomatic analysts think that at least for the foreseeable future, ideological and political control will remain tight as the CCP's main factions fight among themselves over issues of power and policy.
The analysts say this explains the frequency with which President Hu convenes the full 24-member Politburo to deliberate on weighty party and state matters.
By contrast, the full Politburo seldom met in Jiang's days, when almost all issues were settled by the much smaller PSC.
"The current nine-member PSC is evenly split between members of the Hu-Wen camp and those with residual loyalty to Jiang," said an Asian diplomat.
"The full Politburo, on the other hand, contains relatively younger cadres who want to ingratiate themselves with Hu in the run-up to the 17th Party Congress in 2007, when Jiang and most of his cronies are expected to finally retire."
