REFLECTIONS ON THE CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY'S 90TH (Founded July 1, 1921 )

AFTER THE PARTY 

FOR THE PARTY 

WAS OVER 

WU BANGGUO, HU JINTAO, 

& JIANG ZEMIN 

(left to right) 

Center stage at the 17th Congress 

of the Chinese Communist Party 

October 2007 

As the celebrations for the ninetieth anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party culminated in the grand set piece in the Great Hall of the People July 1, commentators (for examples, see here and here) quickly noticed who was missing:  Jiang Zemin. 

Jiang Zemin, who is only five years younger than the Party (born August 17, 1926), was not in the place of honor he has customarily occupied in these significant gatherings since he gave up the central place at the 16th Congress in November, 2002.  The photograph above, for example, shows him at the 17th Congress in October, 2007, at the left hand of General Secretary and President Hu Jintao.  Wu Bangguo, the head of the National People's Congress, ranked number two in the Party hierarchy, sits on Hu's right hand. 

On July 1 his successors proceeded without him, as can be seen from the official photographs.  Declining health seemed to be the favorite media speculation. 

 

For more on Jiang, see here, here, here, here, and here.