The 17th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress, set to open on Oct. 15, is drawing growing attention as it will pick the possible successor of Chinese President Hu Jintao who will retire in 2012. The event is also important as it will come with a blueprint for China's national development for the next five years.
Liaoning party boss Li Keqiang, 52, and Shanghai party secretary Xi Jinping, 54, are currently competing to become the sole Fifth-Generation official to be included in the powerful Politburo Standing Committee. Inclusion in the nine-strong elite group as the youngest member is tantamount to securing the presidency in the post-Hu era.
Hu is likely to strengthen his grip on the party through the congress given both Li and Xi are his confidants. The Chinese leader is set to declare new economic policies focusing on balanced development rather than the hitherto growth-oriented one. Hu has been stressing ``scientific development'' featuring sustainability and benefiting the people including less privileged farmers and newly immigrating urban residents, in particular.
The party has announced a plan to implement a medical insurance system affecting all the people in coming five years. Its adoption of a new package of welfare policies comes amid growing social instability due to widening gaps between the haves and have-nots as a result of growth-only policies.
Double-digit growth preference will be discarded due to the adverse impact on the environment. Rapid industrialization has resulted in air and sea pollution. China has been perplexed because of increasing pollution ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, which has been cited as being among the dirtiest cities in the world in a recent survey.
Our interest also lies in China's foreign policies on Northeast Asia and the Korean Peninsula after the congress. China has recently expressed anxiety over the recently wrapped up inter-Korean summit, with regard to the three or four-party summit in bids to create a peace treaty instead of the current armistice.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il mentioned the three-party talks while President Roh Moo-hyun cited the need for four-party ones, wary of the repercussion from China. Chinese Ambassador to Korea Ning Fukui said Oct. 5 that he didn't believe China will be excluded in future talks on the issue of peace on the Korean Peninsula. ``China will continue to play a constructive and positive role (toward that end),'' he said.
We need to pay close heed to the Oct. 15 congress and China's future course of action as it will have a far-reaching impact upon the Korean Peninsula especially following the historic second inter-Korean summit. For a nation surrounded by big powers, it is necessary to deploy wise diplomacy in a very balanced manner.