Vol. 1, No. 3, June  2002

Biographical Background and Successful U.S. Visit of Chinese Vice President and Heir-apparent Hu Jintao  

 By Dr. John W. Garver         

Hu's background suggests that he will be very much a development-oriented leader.  Born in 1942, probably in southern Jiangsu but perhaps in Shanghai, Hu is now 59 years old.  That makes him one of the youngest top leaders the PRC has ever had.  Hu's family had been involved in the tea trade in Shanghai, but fled Shanghai as Japanese occupation tightened over that city.  As a young boy, Hu was raised in a prosperous region of Jiangsu.  In 1959 he entered Qinghua University in Beijing to major in river hydroelectric generation.  Hu excelled politically and academically at Qinghua, China's premier engineering university.  He came to the attention of then Qinghua president Jiang Nanxiang, a man with close ties to top CCP leaders.  Jiang later moved on to higher positions and helped Hu along at several key points in his career.  The significance of this experience is that Hu 1) has a solid technocratic background, and  2) is a member in good standing of the politically well-connected Qinghua fraternity among the Chinese elite.

Hu remained at Qinghua during the turbulent days of the Cultural Revolution, and was criticized and denounced in one of the numerous "struggle campaigns" of that period.  In 1968 Hu was "sent to the countryside" as Mao brought the Cultural Revolution to a close.  Hu was assigned to work on a hydroelectric plant in remote and poverty-sticken Gansu province.  He remained in Gansu for 13 years, one of three long stints in China's poorest regions.  By 1975 Hu had demonstrated his skill at both engineering and party organizational work, and was promoted to work on the Gansu Provincial Construction Commission in the provincial capital Lanzhou.  The chairman of Gansu province was then Song Ping who happened to be one of Deng Xiaoping's key supporters.  Deng was then locked in a bitter struggle with the Maoists over succession to Mao Zedong.  Hu won the patronage of and proved his worth to Song Ping, one of Deng's closest supporters. 

In 1981 Song Ping was promoted to Beijing.  Hu followed Song three years later, and in 1984 became head of the Communist Youth League Secretariat.  Hu was then 42 years old.  The Communist Youth League was then a hot-bed of struggle over "spiritual pollution" --- a broad code word for Western influences --- and Hu fell afoul of several neo-conservative "princelings" (high ranking cadre who are the children of high ranking cadre of the older generation) by trying to restrict that campaign.  Hu Jintao had by this point become aligned with Hu Yaobang, then the CCP's reform-minded Secretary General and himself former-head of the Communist Youth League.    Hu Yaobang advised Hu Jintao (the two Hu's are not relatives, although their "xing" or family name is the same) to return to the provinces to avoid being consumed by the bitter factional struggles of Beijing.  Song Ping agreed, and Hu Jintao was appointed CCP head in Guizhou province in 1985. 

Guizhou, located in China's southwest, is another of China's poorest provinces.  As had been the case in Gansu, Hu quickly established a reputation as a leader who went to the grass-roots, and was sincerely concerned with the welfare of the people.  During his first months in Guizhou he visited villages, cities, factories, mines, and schools in twelve counties of the province.  Vigorous market-oriented reforms followed.  

In 1989 Hu was transferred to Tibet to serve as Party chief.  While in Tibet Hu presided over the stern and forceful implementation of martial law.  Tibetan opposition was crushed.  Hu unquestionably bears considerable responsibility for this.  Reportedly it was Hu's disregard of Zhao Ziyang's early 1989 advice  to avoid a crack-down in Tibet --- a disregard that led Hu to work with the PLA command in Tibet about the modalities of a crack-down --- that brought Hu to Deng Xiaoping's attention.  Here was a man, Deng concluded, who could make up his own mind and not be entirely submissive to authority. 

A couple of points need to be made about Hu's role in the Tibet crack-down of 1989.  First, the real powers-that-be in Tibet were the PLA commanders, and those men have their own ideas about how to handle the Tibetans --- thinking not too dissimilar from that of William Tecumseh Sherman regarding the Sioux in the 1870s.  Second, Hu Jintao was the first CCP chief of Tibet without a military background ever assigned to Tibet.   Had he shown "weakness" he would have summarily been pushed aside.  There would almost certainly have been a crack-down in Tibet with or without Hu.  Finally, had Hu followed Zhao Ziyang's advice and not worked with the PLA to implement a crack-down, he would not today be Jiang Zemin's heir-apparent.

In 1992, back in Beijing now, Hu reportedly played a key role in working out the  deal between Jiang Zemin and Deng Xiaoping according to which Jiang became Deng's heir-apparent, but Deng Xiaoping's line of opening and reform was enshrined as party doctrine.  In October 1992 Hu entered the Political Bureau, being promoted over scores of more senior heavy-weights in the party.  This rapid rise was testament both to Hu's political acumen and his assembly of prominent backers.  Hu had made himself useful to a number of very powerful men.   In 1992 Hu was put in charge of the Party's personnel and organizational departments, a position which gave him power to build begin building his own network of clients.   Finally, in 1998, Hu was made vice president.

It would be hard to find a leader of the PRC whose biography was more acceptable from the American point of view.  Hu is a self-made-man who worked his way up by demonstrating skill and ability.  Hu is not a "princeling" who owes his prominence to well-connected parents.  Hu is a technocrat, an engineer.   Hu has decades of experience helping to pull some of the poorest regions of China out of poverty.  His career was within and shaped by the apparatus of the Chinese Communist Party, but Hu was not a propagandist, a policeman, or a soldier.  Hu suffered hardship (in Gansu, Guizhou), yet during that hardship  demonstrated concern for the economic betterment of the people under his tutelage.   Hu's origin in a family of Shanghai tea merchants, his training as an engineer, and his decades of experience working in China's poorest provinces, his association with the CCP's reformers from Song Ping, to Hu Yaobang, to Deng Xiaoping, suggest an individual who will continue to lead China toward deeper involvement in the global economy.   The United States, and China, could do far worse than Hu Jintao.  This was certainly one important reason why he was given such a cordial welcome during his recent visit to the United States.

Local Forums held on China and the WTO

Atlanta area institutions have sponsored several opportunities for people to learn about the implications of China joining the World Trade Organization late last year. 

In February, the Young Professionals of the Southern Center for International Studies sponsored a China Briefing at the Southern Center’s facility.  China Research Center Associates, Drs. Yawei Liu and Penelope Prime, participated as speakers in this event, in addition to Nancy Roth Remington of Emory’s Goizueta Business School and Joy Wei, a cross-cultural consultant at Equant. 

On April 10^th, Georgia Tech CIBER, along with numerous co-sponsors, hosted a day-long session entitled “China as a WTO Member: Opportunities for U.S. Firms.”  The Honorable Tian Jun, Counselor and Head of the Economics Section of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, gave the keynote address.  The luncheon address was given by Ambassador Rufus Yerxa, the former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador to GATT.    Several local experts participated as presenters, including John Garver, Hanchao Lu, and Penelope Prime, as well as numerous representatives from large and small companies doing business with China.  One of the main issues discussed at the forum was the problems and strategies relating to the protection of intellectual property rights in China. 

The US-China People’s Friendship Association also hosted a session in April held at Agnes Scott College focusing on “China, the U.S., and the World Trade Organization.”  There were three speakers: Andres Villegas, the Director of Marketing and International Trade for the State of Georgia’s Department of Agriculture; Kuan Yang, the Director of Institutional Research and Planning at Georgia Perimeter College, and Penelope Prime, Professor of Economics and Director of the China Research Center.  The forum was divided into six topics.  After each presenter shared some thoughts on a topic, the floor was opened to the audience for questions and comments.

Authoring Community and State: Political Culture in Asian Context

October 23-27, 2002

This event will be hosted by Eckerd College in Florida in conjunction with the Asian Studies Development Program with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This interdisciplinary faculty development workshop is part of a two-year project, Cultures of Authority in Asian Practice: A Seminar Series for Undergraduate Educators. Speakers and Topics include:

•       Dr. Roger Ames, University of Hawaii,  “The Sage as Ruler: Good Governance and the Ideals of Authoritative Personhood.”

•       Dr. Barbara Andaya, University of Hawaii, “Authoring the State and the Moral Leadership in Southeast Asia.”

•       Dr. Guo Xuezhi, University of Virginia, “Chinese State and Authority Before and After Mao.”

•       Dr. Peter Hershock, East West Center, and Dr. Ames, “Human Rights and Human Wrongs: Does Culture Matter?”

•       Dr. Sankaran Krishna, University of Hawaii, “Borders, Books, and National Identities: Reflections on the Relationship among Culture, Political Legitimacy, and Authority in Indian Contexts.”

•       Dr. Michael Robinson, Indiana University, “Authoring Post-Colonial Identity: The Histories and Politics of 20^th Century Korea.”

Applications are invited from faculty of American colleges and universities who are interested in infusing Asian content into their undergraduate curriculum.  Generous funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) allows lodging (single occupancy) and meals to be provided. Participants or their home institutions are responsible for travel expenses. The workshop will be directed by Dr. Roger Ames, University of Hawaii.

Application deadline: September 12, 2002.  Participants will be notified about the status of their application on September 20, 2002.   For application instructions and logistical questions, please contact Dr. Shiping Hua at 727-864-8308 or huasp@eckerd.edu. For information on the workshop program, please contact Dr. Peter Hershock at 808-944-7757 or hershocp@eastwestcenter.org.

42nd Annual Meeting of Southeast Conference of Association for Asian Studies will be held at Armstrong Atlantic State University

January 17-19, 2003

The Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (SEC/AAS) is a non-political, non-profit scholarly organization dedicated to promoting the study of Asia in the southeastern region of the United States.  To that end, SEC/AAS has held (since 1962) an annual three-day conference featuring scholarly panels, teacher workshops, and book exhibits.  The year 2003 meeting of the SEC/AAS, sponsored by Armstrong Atlantic State University, will be held at Jekyll Island, Georgia during the weekend of January 17-19.  All those interested are encouraged to join the SEC/AAS and attend the meeting.  Information concerning the meeting can be found throughout the following website: http://www.lib.duke.edu/reference/kenb/sec-main.htm.

Editor's Notes: starting from this issue, we will add a new section on useful websites related to China research.  If you see some sites you like, please let Dr. Baogang Guo know. On China Research Center's web site, there is also a resource link page. The following links will be added to that page later.

• Chinese On-line Magazine Index: http://www.creaders.net/navigator/magazine.html  A very comprehensive list of Chinese on-line magazines (in Chinese)

• Chinese On-line Forums: http://www.creaders.net/navigator/forums.html A very good index of Chinese on-line discussion forums (in Chinese)

• Internet Guide for China Studies: http://sun.sino.uni-heidelberg.de/igcs/ A site maintained by Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Heidelberg with very comprehensive listing of links of China studies

• Web Index of Chinese Politics: http://www.geocities.com/classifiedforum/index.htm good collection of web sites related to Chinese politics (in Chinese)

• Gateway Service Center of Chinese Academic Journal Publications: http://www.library.pitt.edu/gateway/index.html This Digital Document Delivery Center provides free delivery of full-text copies of Chinese-language academic journal articles to any researcher in the United States. This award-winning Center is administered by the East Asian Library of the University of Pittsburgh Library System,