China “CP’s Central Committee” meeting this is under scrutiny by the nouveaux riches

CSMS Magazine Staff WritersAll eyes are on China’s “Communist Party” crucial meeting this weekend as the party embarks upon a new political charade designed, according to the “Party’s” official line, “ to eradicate poverty.” One section of the Chinese society, however, will not be paying too much attention: the million of poor peasants in rural China. Ironically, it is “for them” or at least about them that the latest show is being put in display. But rural China has long understood that their country’s newfound wealth has never meant their new salvation; and if the Chinese leadership is talking “poverty”, it is because it is part of the government’s strategic agenda crafted to strengthen the country’s image as an emerging global super power.Since the death of Mao in the late seventies and the reintroduction of capitalism in China by the Deng’s clique, the country has been experiencing major economic growth—but a growth that did not come without a price. Thousands of factories had to be shut down, living millions of Chinese unemployed and pushing prostitution and mass migration out of China to a new level. Chinese “slave labors” are being found throughout the Middle East oil-rich countries, selling their energy for a few bucks.In China’s urban heartland, there are no serious law to protect Chinese workers against raw exploitation by capitalists adventurism, rushing to make millions off a docile, cheap and utterly exploited working class. Experts agree that the nouveaux riches may be walking on top of a volcano set to erupt at any moment. It is hard to imagine that the widening gap between rich and poor in China can last forever.That prospect has scared both foreign investors and the new elite alike for their interests are intertwined. It is not surprising that president Hu Jintao will be closely watched this weekend when he rises to the microphone to deliver the opening speech. The new dinosaurs will pay close attention for signs that he plans to further consolidate his power at the meeting following the ouster of a prominent Communist Party leader for corruption, analysts said.Although the party has said its four-day Central Committee meeting, starting Sunday, will officially focus on helping the poor, “it is often a time for high-level personnel changes.”This year’s meeting was heralded by a political earthquake: the ousting of Shanghai party Secretary Chen Liangyu for corruption two weeks ago in what was widely seen as a move by Hu to eliminate potential rivals and rein in strong-willed regional leaders.”Everyone is going to be busy looking at the leadership changes,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China specialist at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris.To the new elite, stability is the key to insuring their prosperity. That is why the closed-door Central Committee meetings are a key forum for the leadership to rally senior party officials for it lays the groundwork for a more crucial gathering a year from now — a congress held every five years that is expected to re-anoint Hu as party secretary and mark his full emergence as China’s unrivaled leader.Though Chen was fired after being implicated in the misuse of government pension funds to finance real estate deals, he had been in political danger long before. For the past two years, he and other regional leaders had been accused of defying Beijing’s efforts to slow dangerously fast economic growth, and to shift development to China’s countryside and impoverished west.Chen reportedly angered Beijing by clashing with Hu’s premier, Wen Jiabao, over orders to throttle back construction frenzy in Shanghai, the country’s ambitious business capital.To camouflage the real show, the “Communist Party” said the meeting will focus on “building a harmonious society” — its term for efforts to spread prosperity throughout the country and ease tensions over the growing gap between the new middle class and the poor majority.Hu has engineered a shift in policy since coming to power, making a priority of helping the millions of poor people who have missed out on China’s economic boom. Over the past two years, Beijing has raised spending on health care, schools and other services in the countryside, home to about 800 million people. Few details have emerged on how the leadership plans on building this so-called “harmonious society.” One thing is certain: unless genuine steps are taking to close the gap between the wealthy elite and the rest of the country, a new political upheaval is all but inevitable.See also China’s new role in Africa:  https://csmsmagazine.org/news.php?pg=20061006I291