Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=04/02/03

TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP

TITLE=CHINA'S NEW LEADERSHIP

NUMBER=6-12891

BYLINE=Andrew Guthrie

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Assignments

TELEPHONE=619-3335

INTRO: As preparations for war with Iraq reached a crescendo the middle of last month, another event with potentially even greater geopolitical significance was taking place in Asia. The Chinese People's Congress elected a new leadership, a pair of technocrats who are also considered part of a comparative "youth movement" in the world's most populous nation. This important and peaceful transition was given scant attention in the U-S press but a few papers took time out from Iraq to comment, and V-O-A's __________ has a sampling in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.

TEXT: China's new president, replacing Jiang Zemin, is Hu Jintao, trained as a hydrological engineer, and his new Prime Minister, or premier, is Wen Jiabao, also sixty, originally a geologist. Veteran China watchers are pointing out that while Jiang Zemin has stepped down as president, he still retains considerable power as head of the People's Army. The new Prime Minister, Mr. Wen takes over for the "flinty" Zu Rongji, with his main job successfully guiding China into the World Trade Organization.

He also inherits a huge financial problem with more than 28 million Chinese workers jobless as the state run economy continues the painful transition to private industry, immersed in high-debt financed growth. Another significant change is selection of Li Zhaoxing a former Chinese ambassador to Washington as Foreign Minister, suggesting the importance the new government puts on relations with this country. // In Ohio, The Cincinnati Post observes:

VOICE: While the United States was preoccupied with Iraq, China was engaged in a carefully scripted transfer of power to a new generation of leaders. [They are] . the first of China's leaders whose transforming experience was not the revolution that brought the communists to power in 1949.

. The early outlook is that the new leadership will be cautious, conservative and incremental, both because the party hierarchy wants it that way - - outgoing president Jiang Zemin is retaining control of the army just to be sure - - and because the new leaders were of age for two of Chairman Mao's reckless and ruinous experiments in governance, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.

TEXT: Thoughts of the Cincinnati Post. As for Maryland's largest daily, The [Baltimore] Sun suggests the importance of this transition cannot be understated.

VOICE: China's "fourth generation" of leaders slipped into power [recently] . in a transition that seemed relatively quiet and seamless. When it comes to the [most populous]. nation on Earth, one of the world's fastest-growing economies and a land still trying to understand the rule of law, that can't be taken for granted.

The Chinese political system remains terribly repressive but, in fits and starts, Chinese society is becoming more open, dynamic and modern. Any leadership changes in that direction are in the world's and particularly America's interests . even more reason for Americans to . welcome the low-key arrival of China's fourth generation.

TEXT: Excerpts from a [Baltimore] Sun editorial. Moving on to Boston's Christian Science Monitor, we read this assessment of the number two man and his predecessor from China scholar Jasper Becker.

VOICE: China's flinty Premier Zhu Rongji formally bowed out [recently] . after a decade of steering China toward free markets. No one doubts the historical importance of this man vehemently hated by some and hero-worshiped by others. More than anyone else, except the late Deng Xiaoping, Mr. Zhu kept the Chinese Communist Party in power with his forceful leadership. . His more equable successor, Wen Jiaboa, now must put in force the world Trade Organization agreement that is [Mr.] Zhu's most enduring legacy and which casts China's economic future in cement.

TEXT: In America's heartland, Missouri's Kansas City Star suggests the two leaders face a challenging task ahead.

VOICE: China's new leadership team . has not been tested in a crisis. The new president, Hu Jintao, was trained as a [hydrologist]. The new premier, Wen Jiabao, is a geologist. These are technocrats, not revolutionaries - - individuals committed to the gradualism that has characterized Chinese policy since Deng Xiaoping rose to power in the 1970s. Their elevation represents something rare for the leadership of a communist regime: a peaceful transfer of power.

TEXT: Colorado's Rocky Mountain news from Denver focuses on relations with Washington as it sums up:

VOICE: U-S-China relations have had their peaks and valleys, but it's well to remember how much they have improved since the collision of a U-S surveillance aircraft and a Chinese [air force jet] fighter in April 2001. Bush officials have a lot on their foreign policy plate [Editors: slang for "agenda"] right now, but they should try to make the time to develop positive relations with this newest generation of leaders.

TEXT: With those views from Denver's Rocky Mountain News, we conclude this sampling of editorial comment on the new leadership recently announced in China.

NEB/ANG