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Is Mr Hu out of favour that he is indirectly being targeted through weaning away of his allies into insignificant, sinecure posts, While Xi Jumping stars are ascending in that Li, the ally of Xi has jumped into the General Office?Party Intrigue Seen in China as Official Is Demoted
SHANGHAI — Ling Jihua, a senior Chinese official and a close ally of President Hu Jintao, was named Saturday to a new post in a move that some Communist Party experts said was a demotion and a surprising development ahead of this year's leadership transition.
Mr. Ling's appointment as head of a department that deals with non-Communist Party organizations was announced online in the People's Daily, the party newspaper.
The party's once-in-a-decade leadership transition has been complicated by the worst political scandal in decades, with the detention of Bo Xilai, who had been a Politburo member, and the recent conviction of his wife in the murder of a British businessman.
Two officials widely expected to be at the top of the ruling Communist Party during the next five-year term, which begins next year, are Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang, now the youngest members of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee. But the other members are expected to be formally announced in the next few months.
Political observers say there has been intense infighting in the Communist Party over who will fill those positions, as well as other major posts, when the current leaders step down.
Although the Communist Party has a monopoly on power, analysts say there are powerful factions, political alliances and interest groups that jockey for power, and even departing leaders are determined to find positions for allies in order to strengthen their legacy or protect their political networks.
In recent years, Mr. Ling, 55, has been considered one of China's most powerful behind-the-scenes figures because he was a close adviser to Mr. Hu and was chief of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, a post that includes managing the security and logistics of top leaders.
Several analysts said Mr. Ling had been under consideration for a position on the nine-member Standing Committee, which some analysts believe could be reduced to seven members.
Now, they say, Mr. Ling is unlikely to be selected for such a high post. He could still be a candidate for the Politburo, which has 25 members, though even that, they say, is in question.
As chief of the United Front Work Department, Mr. Ling would oversee the party's relations with nonparty organizations and Hong Kong, Macau and the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Cheng Li, an expert on China's party politics at the Brookings Institution in Washington, said that in recent years Mr. Ling had been likened to Zeng Qinghong, the former Standing Committee member and power broker aligned with former President Jiang Zemin. That was considered an indication that Mr. Ling might join the Standing Committee. "This is very significant," Mr. Li said in a telephone interview Saturday, referring to Mr. Ling's new post. "We don't know what's going on behind the scenes, but this looks like Ling has been marginalized to a less important position. With this position, his chance of making it to the Standing Committee is almost completely gone."
But Mr. Li and other analysts said it was too early to know what the appointment meant. With the move, Mr. Hu appears to have lost a powerful ally, but he may have gained another position for an ally that has not yet been announced.
Mr. Ling's successor at the General Office, Li Zhanshu, is considered an ally of Mr. Xi, who is widely expected to succeed Mr. Hu as president.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/w...n-in-chinese-officials-apparent-demotion.html
And Bo, another Communist hot shot is in the docks!
What's the guess as to what's up with these Communists?