Ge Lite's journal for monday 10/13/03:
Promising economic and political change, China's new leaders opened a meeting Saturday to debate reforms that will move the country closer to capitalism, including the first-ever guarantee of private property under communist rule.
President Hu Jintao and communist party leaders at the four day meeting were also expected to consider a more stable system and measures to encourage private investment, diplomats and foreign analysts said.
The meeting coincides with final preparations for China's first manned space mission next week and reflects the party's desire to link itself the nationalist fervor of a history making triumph, helping to repair a reputation battered by corruption and scandals.
Details of the agenda of the plenum of the 16th Communist Party Congress weren't immediately released. But the official Xinhua News Agency said it would push ahead economic reforms that have let millions of Chinese lift themselves out of poverty.
It marks "another turning point and a new starting point in China's reform process." Xinhua said. The meeting comes as Hu, little understood after nearly a year as party general secretary, tries to establish himself as China's leader following the thirteen year rule of Jiang Zemin.
Hu, 60 years old, has moved cautiously as he tries to consolidate power, sharing control with Jiang allies on the party's ruling nine-member Standing Committee. Jiang, 77 years old, is still influential as chairman of the commission that runs China's military.
Although Hu has called for making government more and more accountable and responsive, he has yet to reveal any detailed vision. Possible changes foreseen by outside experts in a Hu government reflect long planned shifts in party strategy, not in his personal ambition.
He gave his most explicit indication of possible changes in a September 30 speech that called for greater "socialist democracy" and a bigger public role in government. But he didn't say how that would be carried out, and the party has given no sign that it includes true political opposition.
[posted for Ge Lite by CH]
