Last Friday, Bloomberg reported Chinese regime former leader Jiang Zemin met with Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz when he visited China on April 17th. It's one of the few times Jiang has surfaced in media reports since the Communist Party’s political turmoil began in February.
Jiang again appeared in the news on Saturday, with U.S. based Boxun.com reporting that he met with high ranking military officials. Jiang reportedly told them, “I’m still the leader of the Central Military Committee.”
The details are scant on both the reports, with pictures of Jiang notably missing. Chinese web author Wu Jianguo says this draws suspicion, and is at odds with Jiang’s style.
[Wu Jianguo, Chinese Web Author]:
“I really doubt the credibility of this. All these reports online are texts with no pictures. They only reported he met so and so, and the military. In the past, Jiang would try and make a personal appearance.
Many China watchers regarded Jiang Zemin as the leader of the faction that includes Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang. They’re sometimes referred to as the “blood debt faction” because of their involvement in the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice.
Jiang was previously rumored to be in a vegetative state, and no longer in control. Instead, Zhou Yongkang, a Politburo member and China’s top security official, is seen driving the fight against current leader Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.
After numerous reports last week that Zhou may now be under investigation himself, the fresh news about Jiang is drawing speculation.
[Heng He, NTD Senior China Analyst]:
“These so called meetings are released to create the impression that [Jiang] is still functional, and he can make things happen and interfere in political affairs. I think these are created by a person or people who want others to believe Jiang still has the ability to protect Zhou Yongkang, but in fact, it exactly shows that Zhou is now hard to protect.”
[Hong Jian, China Commentator]:
“After Bo Xilai was taken down, the infighting entered a critical stge. Now they’re bringing out Jiang Zemin, which indicates Zhou Yongkang may not be able to achieve much anymore.”
NTD Senior China Analyst Zhang Tianliang says if Jiang Zemin is brought into the picture, it may prompt Wen and Hu to step up actions against his faction.
[Zhang Tianliang, China Commentator]:
“If you bring out Jiang Zemin, that means he’s being swept up in this current turmoil, and he may end up being investigate too. With his faction trying to throw out more senior people, it will actually pose a threat to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao.”
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大家都来看”九评共产党” ( VCD, 书)!
Let’s find “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party”(VCD, books)!
快上大纪元声明退出共产党和共产党其它组织(/团/队)，抹去邪恶的印记!
Quit the Evil Chinese Communist Party or its affiliated organizations today!
