Hu urged to cede China presidency to rival--sources

BEIJING, Jan 10: Chinese leader Hu Jintao has been urged to cede the presidency to a rival-turned-ally, sources said, a step that would sweep aside two decades of established practice and let him focus on extending Communist Party power.

Political allies of Vice President Zeng Qinghong have urged that he be promoted to state president at parliament's annual session in 2008, the sources with close ties to the top leadership said, requesting anonymity to avoid repercussions for speaking to foreign media.

It was by no means certain the proposal would be adopted, but the debate is a sign that jockeying among leaders of the world's fourth-bigggest economy has begun in earnest ahead of the 17th Communist Party Congress due some time between September and November this year.

''There are voices in the Party that it is no longer necessary for one person to hold all three positions,'' one source told Reuters, referring to the presidency and the top Party and military jobs -- all currently held by Hu.

A second source said Zeng's supporters were arguing for a return to the modus vivendi of the late 1950s and early 1960s when power was shared by four national leaders. At that time, Mao Zedong was party chairman, Liu Shaoqi was president, Zhou Enlai was premier and Zhu De was parliament chief.

The practice continued under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s, with Hu Yaobang as Party chief, Zhao Ziyang as premier and Li Xiannian as president. After Hu's political demise, Zhao took the top Party post and Li Peng the premiership.

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In a departure from that practice, Jiang Zemin was given the presidency and the top Party and military posts to bolster his relatively weak position as he rose to power after the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

Jiang ruled for 13 years until 2002 when he handed the Party general secretary post to Hu, who replaced Jiang as president in 2003 and military chief the following year.

Hu, who reversed Jiang's emphasis on embracing the growing ranks of rich capitalists and has instead pursued policies over the past five years lifting up the poor backward countryside, is expected to signal a fifth-generation heir and further consolidate power at the Party congress. While some analysts said handing the presidency to Zeng could be perceived as a sign of weakness, other political sources said it could show Hu's confidence in his grip on power. He would still hold the more influential posts of Party and military boss, and would have more time to focus on internal issues to strengthen the Party's monopoly on power.

''Domestically, Hu will be seen as magnanimous if he lets Zeng become president,'' a third source told Reuters. ''It'll be a recognition of Zeng's work.'' ''But it's a difficult decision because Hu needs the presidency to break out into the world,'' the source added.

While Zeng is fifth in the party hierarchy he wields more clout than his ranking suggests. He stepped into Hu's vacant vice president slot in 2003.

Many Chinese analysts believe Zeng, 67, is waiting in the wings should Hu falter or his health fail.

Zeng has shed his unpopular image as Jiang's ''hatchet man'' by working closely with Hu. Despite their simmering political rivalry, the pair jointly tackled a plethora of problems, including weathering a crisis in Hong Kong where 500,000 took to the streets in 2003 to demand more democracy.

More recently, Zeng went along with Hu's politically sensitive decision to sack Chen Liangyu as party boss of Shanghai -- Jiang's political stronghold.

But Joseph Fewsmith, a China watcher at Boston University, was sceptical that Zeng would get the job.

''At a minimum, it expresses dissatisfaction with Hu,'' Fewsmith said. ''The implicit accusation is that Hu is too dictatorial -- that he needs to be cut down to size.'' Nonetheless, Zeng is popular with many fellow ''princelings'', the children of incumbent, retired or deceased leaders.

At the funeral of Wang Guangmei, wife of former president Liu Shaoqi, last October, Hu paid his respects, arriving in a convoy with an entourage of bodyguards and aides. Zeng, meanwhile, queued up alongside other ''princelings''.

''The Liu family was very grateful,'' said one attendee, flashing a thumbs-up sign.

REUTERS