Qiao Shi, one-time rival to China's Jiang Zemin, bows out
Wed, 4 Mar 1998
BEIJING, March 4 (AFP) - Qiao Shi, the one-time rival to Chinese
President Jiang Zemin, bowed out of mainstream politics Wednesday by
completing his last task as head of the parliament.
The former number three in the ruling Communist Party opened the
preparatory session for the National People's Congress (NPC) and
then retired after current Premier Li Peng was elected executive
chairman of the presidium to replace him.
"I have accomplished my mission," Qiao told the meeting.
"It is now the executive chairman's duty to continue presiding
over this meeting and I'm taking my leave," he said, according to
Xinhua news agency.
Li will oversee the upcoming session of the NPC that opens
Thursday and Qiao will only attend in a non-voting capacity as the
retiring head of parliament.
For Qiao, a man who worked his way up through the party from the
age of 16 to become chief of the secret police, head of the NPC and
a major problem for Jiang, the end came quietly.
There was no fanfare, only an unremarkable exit and the promise
of Li's election as NPC chairman at the official vote on March 16.
Even reports that Qiao might be offered the consolation prize of
vice president appeared unlikely to materialise in the days ahead
with other, younger, candidates touted for the position.
Born in 1924 in Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai, Qiao
joined the party in 1940 as he turned 16 and started his underground
work almost straight away.
After the Communist Party came to power in 1949, he worked up
through the youth league and then the iron and steel industry.
Following his promotion to Beijing in 1963, he was noted for his
ability to smooth waters between different factions.
A short eclipse during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) did
nothing to stop his rise and by 1978 he was in Iran meeting the head
of the secret police there.
In 1982, Qiao was promoted to the central committee of the
Communist Party and he reached the all-powerful standing committee
of the politburo in 1987.
Qiao's tight links to the security apparatus and calls for
stronger legal control over the party led to frequent comparisons
with Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB who pushed for major reforms in
the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
He also had the classic characteristics of a security
apparatchik with his shaded glasses, enigmatic smile and abstention
from alcohol and cigarettes.
During the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmnen Square in
1989, Qiao sided with the old guard who wanted to send in the army,
but only after spending weeks negotiating between reformist and
conservative camps.
Although some say he was offered the job of party secretary
general on the eve of the massacre and turned it down, others say
his hesitation over the protests led patriarch Deng Xiaoping to pass
him over in favour of Jiang Zemin.
Whatever the case, his promotion to head of the NPC in 1993
provided a platform to challenge Jiang by pushing for more
legislative control over the party and state.
But after Deng's death in February 1997, Qiao himself hinted at
retirement.
He told a delegation from Japan's New Frontier Party last June
that his home province of Zhejiang was calling for his return.
"I have not been back to Zhejiang province for two years and
there are strong voices which have asked for my early return," he
said.
During the July 1 handover of Hong Kong, Qiao remained in
Beijing without an official function while President Jiang and
Premier Li Peng monopolised events in both the British colony and
the Chinese capital.
Qiao's retirement September 18 from all party posts meant that
he lost his number-three position in China's hierarchy, and set up
his retirement from the head of the NPC.
