While we've been engulfed in the sound and fury of our own electoral process, its easy to forget that things are going on elsewhere.
Jiang Zemin stepped down from his last official post, and now...in name at least...Hu Jintao is the undisputed leader of China. That said, few believe that Zemin isn't influencing things from behind the scenes.
What makes the situation interesting, though, is the fact that Zemin is still 78 years old....and if he dies anytime soon, Hu Jintao's in great position to demand, and even get, major policy changes.
The fact that we really know almost nothing about Hu means that we really have no solid read on what he'll do with unlimited power. This could be very good news...or catastrophicly bad.
Only time will tell, of course, but the situation bears watching.
Launched by Charlie Victor Echo at September 28, 2004 08:04 PM