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Subscribe to RSSDelegates are meeting in Beijing to begins the once-in-a-decade power transfer for a change in Chinas leadership. President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and other long-standing leaders will give up their main party posts, making way for new President Xi Jinping and new premier Li Keqiang. ITV's Angus Walker reports. Â
Updated at 11:11 a.m. ET: BEIJING — While Americans celebrate the power of the ballot with the re-election of President Barack Obama, China's ruling Communist Party on Thursday launched a tightly orchestrated gathering in Beijing for a transition of power to a new generation of leaders amid tough challenges.
To the applause of some 2,000 party officials from across the country, outgoing Party leader President Hu Jintao, 70, reaffirmed in a lengthy speech the party's right to govern, with a ringing endorsement of the achievements during his 10 years in office.
In that span of time, China's economy quadrupled in size, leapfrogging to No. 2 from No. 5 in global economic ranking, and amassing the strategic global clout that the country wields today.
Over 2,000 journalists were invited to the 18th Communist Party Congress inside the cavernous Great Hall of the People near Tiananmen Square.
Diego Azubel / EPA
The portrait of late leader Chairman Mao Zedong hangs at the Gate of Heavenly Peace as members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) salute China's national flag during a ceremony Wednesday on Tiananmen Square as a press conference is held inside the Great Hall of the People on the eve of the 18th Communist Party Congress (CPC) in Beijing, China.
The week-long event is expected to culminate in the election of Xi Jinping, 59, as China's next top party leader. And when China's parliament convenes early next year, Xi is expected to be named China's president, acquiring by then the full authority with which he will co-manage with Obama the delicate course of Chinese-American relation.
A reforming party
The striking contrast between the Chinese and American models of governance, which were playing out at the same time, was certainly not lost to the media handlers of the Chinese party congress.
Embassy ballots give Chinese a glimpse of democracy ahead of power transfer
In a pre-congress media event, NBC News posed the issue of whether China will eventually adopt democratic reform and popular elections.
''The leading position of the Chinese Communist Party is a historic choice, a people's choice,'' responded Cai Mingzhao, the congress spokesman, dismissing any prospect of multiparty politics.
Hu's swan song Thursday reinforced China's path of gradual reform, which prizes harmony and stability in times of rapid change. Still, China observers concede that a smooth party congress will mark only the second peaceful transfer of power in Communist China's otherwise tumultuous history.
Revelations of vast fortune held by Chinese leader's family may hurt Communist Party image
Before the 2002 change of leadership from then-president Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao, all succession plans involving the designated heirs of Chairman Mao and even Deng Xiaoping ended up in bloody and tragic power struggles.
China's leadership transition is also seen as a vindication of China's reform that sets an age limit on top leaders, a practice not yet adopted by other modern nations, according to scholars.
The Hu-Wen legacy
Despite China's enormous gains in the past 10 years, the jury is out on the legacy of Hu and his close political partner, Premier Wen Jiabao.
''They have laid the foundations of a meaningful social safety net, in terms of health insurance, retirement pensions, unemployment benefits, and more recently subsidized housing while keeping a rather high economic growth rate,'' said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a professor of government and prominent China scholar at the Hong Kong Baptist University.
''But 'lay the foundations' is important because a lot remains to be done in terms of reimbursements and coverage,'' Cabestan told NBC News.
''Hu has introduced a series of very important concepts such as scientific concept of development, harmonious society, and pro-people approach but has yet to implement them,'' said Bo Zhiyue, expert on China's elite politics at the National University of Singapore.
Chinese say one child is enough as Beijing weighs end of policy
Premier Wen represents the ''human face'' of the Chinese communist leadership, according to Li Cheng, a top China scholar of the Brookings Institution.
''Some critics may doubt the sincerity of Wen's human face, but it was effective among a vast number of farmers and migrant workers in the country, especially for groups like AIDS orphans, coal-miners and families of earthquake victims,'' Cheng said in an earlier email interview.
CNBC's Michelle Caruso-Cabrera reports on China's selection of new leaders to meet public calls for better government and give the economy a boost.
''Liberal intellectuals in the country consider Wen as the most important political ally, especially for Wen's long-standing argument for universal values of democracy,'' he added.
However, recent reports of corruption involving family members and a protege seem to have tarnished both Wen and Hu, with Wen reportedly urging an investigation into alleged hidden family fortunes to clear his name.
The challenges of Xi Jinping
China's new leadership to be announced next week promises to be ''the most diversified generation of leaders,'' Cheng said.
''This diversity can be found in the leader's educational backgrounds, in their career paths, in their policies and world views,'' he further said.
Read more China coverage on NBC's Behind The Wall
And for Xi Jinping, who will head this leadership, maintaining ''delicate balance on several fronts'' will be the key challenge.
''How to crack down on the vested interest groups of state-owned companies but not undermine the national competitiveness and lose the support of this key power base of the party? How to be seen as the top leader who places China's national interests above anything else but at the same time maintain a good personal relationship with the United States? How to satisfy the bureaucratic interests of the military but avoid a military conflict in South China Sea, East China Sea or elsewhere? How to pursue some bold political reforms but not lose control?'' are the tough choices, according to Cheng.
''Anti-corruption, clarifying the division of labor between the party and the government, and establishing the rule of law'' are the top challenges, according to Zhiyue.
Read more World news on NBCNews.com
Cabestan however cited ''regime legitimacy after the avalanche of corruption scandals'' as a major issue.
Xi has to deal with a ''plutocratic bureaucratic elite increasingly entrenched in its vested interests.''
''He will need to reform in order to consolidate and save the regime but at the same time he will have to overcome huge obstacles and hurdles to succeed. A kind of mission impossible,'' Cabestan warned.
NBC Researchers Johanna Armstrong and Liu Yanzhou contributed to this report.
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First!
Sorry that was for self amusement. Here's to hoping for a better change in trade with China.
I'm betting they didn't spend 6 billion on the event.
Easying the Internet restrictions and a FREE MEDIA would be great starts...
Until then, news about Tibet and the Uyghurs cultural genocide, by the Chinese Han will be covered up...
Even if it were revealed, it only takes a couple of decades before everyone forgets and stops caring about it. No one is talking about the Native Americans tragedy as if it matters today are they? If they are, they're probably journalists.
Ineptia,
Some of us still remember - 1/8th 'Blackfoot' and the EX was 1/8 'Sioux'...
Maybe that is why certain people pay attention to the Genocide of OTHERS...
Mao Zedong?
I worked in China at the top and with the top officials including past leader Jiang Ze Ming for 20 years. My wife was born in China to a very high Military family, high education, two doctors and two national artists. All speak fluent English. China, the people are and as Marx said, not communists. Mr. Mao was a dictator. Its government is a dictator style that leaves its too many people to their own Capital Characteristics. As long as they are happy the huge CCPC can remain hidden and wealthy. Carl Marx made it very clear that communism was going to happen in, at the time UK, an industrialized nation that had fallen due to corruption. It had to be a nation with a free press that could lie or simply ignore the party leader's destruction of its freedom. As long ago as Dostoevsky he mentions Christ is killed again and he mentions people prefer to be happy than to be free. Nietzsche's Over Minch mentions the slaves become the king and the king become the slaves. None of this could be done in China where in fact people are happy and left alone by the government and where the news is not free to tell lies.
It is here in America and free countries that the revolution will take place as it has started already in the EU. Last and most important for the communists to succeed the students can not be too smart. They can not be allowed an education that would allow them to think for themselves.
It is an advantage to be 103 and still going. No one can tell me the lies. I was there when the Wall came down so to speak. I watched George Soros and the destruction of Europe and the now communist EU. You can not turn back. It is and soon will be the age of China with reservations only as a result of Mao's mistakes and too many people for only a short time compared to America.
Proof: the Big Money (Politicians Too) have been selling in the stock market long ago as CNN and NBC and the American Investment Advisors on TV were telling its audience lies. Who wants to bet?
There is going to be a long lonely drop indeed for some and for others no change but a non-existence in their life as before.
JG-955213
Let's see. You work for whom you believed as part of the dictatorship. You moved away from a place you called free world. You adored power to a specific family which reflecting that characteristics. I respect you have in-depth perspectives which our general public does not. But who are you? or are you a bird or a bat?
Pisssss, do not tell the US Citizen that his MEDIA is also VERY CONTROLLED...
After you have lived out-side of the USA for years, this becomes very evident...
While the China Media may not LIE to its people, it like the USA Media, what is available to the average citizen is limited or just not reported on. NEVER rely on just a few Media outlets for your information...
China will IMPLODE just as the EU and USA. As the money runs-out and people become more aware of what is happening...
China's biggest threat is the knowledge of history & world events by the average person...
farang from Thailand strikes again with his inuendo and hatred.
Henrich von Dorf,
How is that COLD, SNOW, and 60% tax rates in Canada???
It is warm and nice here in Isan. Great biking weather...
I busy fixing up my second house in Thailand and just bought a new motorcycle... Ha! Ha!
China, like the United States is heading towards gradual but sweeping changes over the next twenty to thirty years. The shifting demographics in America and the financial migrations in China will re-arrange the traditional view of both countries. America will drift away from its traditional Euro-centric, Christian-based, family oriented culture to a more diverse, multi-cultural, service-industry based society. The Chinese will move closer to their historical cultural base, but fracture into several states, each oriented towards the climate and locale.
We're watching the first steps for both countries unfold before us. The next twenty years will look "bumpy" in the immediate sense, but will level out over the long run, as both countries realize that military confrontation costs more than either side is willing to pay.
This may sound a little "too futuristic", but it isn't too much of a stretch to envision Europe (including Russia, the Baltic states) combining into a larger version of the EU (which would include Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel), The United States, Canada and Mexico forming a North American alliance, China, Japan, Korea (united) and other Pacific rim countries aligning with Australia and New Zealand. South America and Central America will remain a collective, but as a minor player. The Mid-Pacific countries will remain client states and the world will collectively honor keeping the Arctic and Antarctic neutral.
None of this really matters as Colorado has legalized recreational marijuna, so I won't remember any of this tomorrow or even where I posted this!
By your last sentence you show you know nothing.
Oh Yeah and the Noble Prize Committee has your name on their lips. In fact I thought I saw something where President Obama was looking for a new Czar of Being Really Smart and your name came up in the discussion.
RT, you know nothing aka an idiot.
How can they possibly hang a picture of Mao Zedong on the wall after he slaughtered millions of his own people, even more that Hitler? He makes Hitler look like a saint.
Maybe to remind the people they can do it again? No, the real reason is that no one has the guts to take it down after they put it up.
I believe I heard somewhere in the Bible, it says that the yellow race will rule the world. If you take a biology class, you will find out, that the Yellow Race genes are dominate. That means, if you mix Black, White, Brown and Yellow, you will finally end up with all Yellow. There are no other options.
I think the important note is that you "heard it" and didn't "read it". I don't believe such a passage exists as the Hebrews probably didn't even know about the East-Asian continent at the time. Biblical evidence is never a good premise for an argument to begin with.
If you mix Thai with Chinese, you end up short, with a light-brown complexion, a turned-up nose, and brown eyes...
If you mix Caucasian with Thai, you end-up avg height of parents, with a light-brown complexion, mixed styles of nose, and brown eyes...
That is why whitening cream is sold extensively in Asia, along with nose jobs..
The Asian version of beauty is very different from the western perception of beauty...
The average Thai guy does not like what the western guys like...
Viva la difference... Ha! Ha!
East Asian women( china, Japan and korea) have very white skin and prefer to stay that way, which accounts for their reluctantness to expose to the sun. The white men generally have pink skin,rather than white skin.
With a Billion more people and in a space the size of the US, China has a real problem with breeding, not Government.
India has 1/3 the land of the US, quickly gaining on China in population, a much smaller GDP, and an inefficient and corrupt government. People learn to survive.
Also during that 10 year period China's 1.3 BILLION people TRIPLED their incomes.
America STILL has almost TWICE the GDP of China. Yet the middle and poor classes are plummeting.
China puts its money into production and infrastructure.
America puts its money into destruction and wars.
You do the simple math.
Yes to JS to SD, it does seem like Iran is trying to provoke a war. I feel like it would be the justification they need to finalize their nuclear development. The sanctions are working and there is a growing unrest among the Iranian people. In the minds of the Iranian leaders, a war might rally the Iranian people to united and bring much needed resources and money from within and outside sources.