Reuters looks at Hu Jintao’s first five years in power and concludes that his influence is limited by a continuing power struggle with his predecessor, Jiang Zemin:
Hu, the country’s fourth-generation leader after Mao, Deng and Jiang, is the first among equals in the Standing Committee but his power is not absolute and he is expected to share power at the congress and possibly accommodate Jiang’s wishes…
Whether Hu will be able to name an ally as his fifth-generation successor in the Standing Committee, the top echelon of power, will be a barometer of how much clout Hu has. [Full text]
