 |
Who is Jiang Zemin?
October 27, 1997
Web posted at: 4:59 p.m. EST (2159 GMT)From Beijing Bureau Chief Andrea Koppel
BEIJING (CNN) -- Eight years after arriving in China's capital and assuming the first of his three official positions, Jiang Zemin, the country's first college-educated president, is politically stronger than ever.
His critics said at the time that he would not last long, but Jiang clearly proved them wrong. Most recently, at a major Communist Party meeting, the 71-year-old Jiang squeezed his opponents out and consolidated his power base.
"He's a man who has shown himself to be an effective politician, somewhat to the surprise of many who had followed his earlier career. In a sense, I think late in life he has risen to high office and grown in the process," said China expert Kenneth Liberthal of University of Michigan.
Long considered a compromise candidate -- the man least offensive to the most people -- Jiang's big break came in the aftermath of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy student demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Jiang, then party secretary of Shanghai, was summoned to the capital and made head of the Communist Party.
By 1993, Jiang had also been named president and head of the military. Indisputably, this made Jiang the anointed successor to senior leader Deng Xiaoping.
Despite the impressive titles, many wrote him off as a political lightweight. And his occasional bursts of song only added to that image.
But the events of this year have proven that Jiang is an astute consensus builder and a savvy politician.
From the death of his patron Deng last February, through the handover of the British colony of Hong Kong in July, to last month's 15th Communist Party congress, Jiang consistently received high marks.
And while he was once called a weather vane blowing with the prevailing political winds, Jiang now appears to have the wind at his back with the most important state visit of his career: the summit with U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Jiang is under tremendous pressure to appeal to two very different audiences: one in his native China, the other in the United States.
"His political instincts are exactly the opposite, frankly, of what works in the United States," Liberthal said. "In China, you show your dignity by being very formal and very stiff. If your audience applauds, you applaud back. That's a Chinese style, not an American style."
Analysts and diplomats agree that if Jiang's visit to the United States is to be considered a success in both countries, Jiang must connect, American-style, with his less formal U.S. audience.
If Jiang can do that, if he can put a human face on China's Communist government -- and do so in a dignified manner -- it will be the crowning achievement of a banner year. But it won't be an easy task.
Who is Jiang Zemin? | What does Jiang want?
The China Paradox | China's U.S. View | The Relationship | Is China a Threat?
© 1997 Cable News Network, Inc.
All Rights Reserved.Terms under which this service is provided to you.