vs.
vs.Who will rule communist China after Deng Xiao Ping is dead and gone? People say Deng is not a factor any more, but until he is literally dead he is still the figurehead. Jiang Zemin seems to have the upper hand here, being the current president. He's trying to solidify his position by playing up what he calls a spiritual society. This seems to mean cracking down harder on personal and political freedoms. On the other hand there has been talk about a fellow by the name of Qiao Shi who is the leader of the National People's Congress. Ostensibly he is for more reform. Recently he has been in the news due to an interview in People's Daily. The headlines read "CHINA PARLIAMENT CHIEF SWIPE AT CHINA COMMUNIST PARTY CHIEF" playing up his criticisms of Jiang. Here's one article (from 1-17) that contains an overview of the article including the "swipe" at Jiang Zemin.
I came across an even older article where Qiao took a swipe at Jiang. It was after the March Missile tests that helped Lee Teng Hui win big at the polls in the ROC election. It was date May 19, 1996 and said
The latest Newsweek says that Communist Chinese President Jiang Zemin has been blamed by his rivals supporting Qiao Shi, the powerful head of China's Parliament, for Jiang's four missteps in dealing with Taiwan recently.One of the missteps was the missile tests giving Lee Teng Hui an even larger victory than he may have if the missile tests hadn't been done. (Click here for the whole article.)
And one more article here speaks about Qiao Shi and his challenge to Jiang. Qiao is described as having "a broader vision of the future than some of his colleagues."
So is this the showdown? Is Jiang a transitional figure? If Qiao wins out is he also transitional? There's no real open campaigning, but surely these guys are taking part in a political campaign almost as much as Dole and Clinton.
