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July 28, 2004

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WWF China style

The Guardian has an article summarising the recent arrest and release of Dr. Jiang Yanyong - the doctor who blew the whistle on SARS and then confronted orthodox CCP thinking on events of June 1989. The article's hook is to turn this into a battle between Dr. Jiang and China's former President Jiang Zemin. It takes until the end of the article to get to the main point:

However, while it is tempting to see the conflict in black and white terms, the reality is far more confused. Dr Jiang appears to be a squeaky-clean hero, but it is unclear whether he is acting alone or on behalf of senior communist officials who would stand to benefit from the demise of the former president.

With a long history of proxy wars within the party, there is speculation that the current president, Hu Jintao, and the prime minister, Wen Jiabao, are using the surgeon to weaken the power base of their main rival.

Many don't realise there is a power struggle still going on at the top of the CCP between the old guard of Jiang Zemin and the new guard of President Hu and Premier Wen. It is behind many of China's actions in the economic, political and security spheres. It's a Battle Royale with huge consequences but it will only be played out behind closed doors.

In other news, southern China is rapidly catching up to some of its Asian rivals in yet another area: kidnapping: With only an estimated one percent of kidnappers brought to justice, it often made more sense than robbing banks. Kind of makes you want to work in a bank.

 posted by Simon on 07.28.04 at 09:53 AM in the




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