Many–if not both–of my readers know that one of my favorite political commentators is the former editor of Freezing Point, Li Datong.
Writing for openDemocracy.net on China’s leadership, Li argues that the status gap between the paramount leader and the rest of the party leadership has narrowed with each successive generation. Most notably, with every passing of the torch the top leader’s ability to choose his own successor has significantly weakend. Mao had to “settle” on Hua Guofeng. After losing Hu Yaobang and Zhao Ziyang, Deng was forced to take Jiang Zemin, and because Jiang was such a mess, Deng himself chose Jiang’s successor, Hu Jintao.
Now with the 17th party congress upon us, Li argues that Hu is in the same position as his predecessors, but with even less power to designate an heir:
The reason Hu was able to take over from Jiang was the status gap between him and other candidates. However, this gap was not based on authority or political achievements, but merely on ten years more experience of life in the politburo. This is a fairly weak claim to authority, and is not enough to give Hu the power to appoint his