Jiang Zemin, Absence from all Formal Events Lots of Guesses

In a formal event after launching a manned spaceship, Jiang Zemin, Chairman of CCP Central Military Commission did not appear. Many people are anxious to hear from him.

The Shenzhou 5 spacecraft project is under the direction of the Public Liberation Army and People. It was predicted that the chairman, Jiang Zemin, would watch the launching of the spacecraft and deliver a speech, but he did not appear. He only gave a celebration ring to the Beijing aeronautical station on October 16 about returning safely to the base.

Meanwhile Wu Bangguo, the No. 2 man in China`s Communist Party hierarchy, met the spaceman right before launching the spacecraft to encourage him and after that he made a commemorative speech on behalf of Communist Party and Military Commission.

The reporters noticed who would take the leadership between Jiang and Wu in this event, enhanced the Chinese’ self-confidence, which is an opportunity to understand the power structure of China. As Jiang did not appear on this event, lots of conjectures are growing such as the opinion of his power weakening.

One reporter said, “Externally, Jiang is regarded as holding the real power but it seems that the center of political power is moving to Wu, judging from this event”.

On the other hand, others analyzed the reason why Jiang did not attend the public function was that he would rather emphasize the peaceful use of the Shenzhou 5spacecraft.

Yoo-Sung Hwang yshwang@donga.com