The Chinese Communist party opened its doors to all social classes yesterday in an attempt to become the party of the whole nation — while maintaining its monopoly on power.
The party’s 16th congress ended its week-long session with significant changes to its constitution, and abandoning its previous emphasis on the working class.
It also brought in new blood to the leadership by electing 356 members of its central committee, half of whom had not served on it before.
Many are either technocrats or those who have worked their way up the party ranks in the provinces. The age profile is still high, however, with only one in five under 50 years old.
As expected, six out of the seven former top leaders including Jiang Zemin have retired, leaving the way open for today’s appointment of Jiang’s chosen successor, Hu Jintao.
The new central committee will also elect the ruling politburo and its inner-core, the standing committee. Many of its members are expected to be close to Jiang who seemingly engineered his departure on his own terms.
The party is now redefined as ”the vanguard of the working class and simultaneously the vanguard of the Chinese people” — a formula which effectively leaves no one out.
In the previous constitution, which is now being amended, the party was the vanguard solely of the ”Chinese working class”.
Those eligible for membership now include ”any advanced element of [any] other social strata” as well as workers, farmers, soldiers and intellectuals. The term ”revolutionary” has been dropped.
This will now formally allow China’s entrepreneurs to become members — as some already are, in practice.
After the vote, Jiang said: ”All this is of historic significance and will immensely encourage the whole party and Chinese people of all ethnic groups to keep pace with the times, blaze new trails in a pioneering spirit and continue confidently to propel the great cause of socialism with Chinese characteristics forward.” – Guardian Unlimited (c)Guardian Newspapers Limited 2001