Talk is of culture as China’s elite jockey for future positions

CHINA’s most important political gathering before the country’s new leadership is announced next year ended yesterday – meriting only a few short paragraphs in the vast nation’s state controlled press.

Ending a four-day annual policy meeting, the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party – 365 of the power elite – wrapped up their gathering with the adoption of a communique on boosting China’s cultural influence overseas while reinforcing socialist principles among the increasingly independent-minded population at home.

“More and more, culture is becoming a fount of national cohesiveness and creativity,” the communique said. “More and more, culture is becoming an important element of comprehensive national strength and competitiveness.”

While the gathering’s stated aim was to hammer out the new cultural initiative, the closed-door event was an occasion for networking and jockeying over the transition when president Hu Jintao and many other top leaders begin to step down a year from now. Although its internal selection process is always secretive, this time it is creating a sense of uncertainty and policy paralysis given that the economy is slowing and public anger over issues such as corruption is growing.

The broad outlines of the succession have taken shape, with vice president Xi Jinping expected to replace Hu and vice premier Li Keqiang to take over from premier Wen Jiabao. But party power brokers are trying to fill seven other slots in the country’s supreme body – the Politburo Standing Committee – and dealing with an uncharacteristically open campaign from Bo Xilai, the telegenic, populist party secretary of the central city of Chongqing.

Reports on the gathering made no direct reference to the leadership manoeuvring, apart from saying the gathering had approved a decision to hold the 18th national party congress – a gathering held every five years where leadership changes usually occur – in the second half of next year.

The focus on cultural issues – a shorthand for ideology – comes at a precarious time for the leadership. Beijing feels that China’s stunning rise should translate into more respect from other powers and a greater say in world affairs. Meanwhile, at home, Chinese leaders are under pressure from a public that is upset over income inequality, corruption and other ills of rapid growth and feeling entitled by rising prosperity to demand change.

Chinese leaders have tried to bolster their legitimacy with this noisy public by appealing to patriotic sentiments, depicting the West as determined to sabotage the country’s ascent and the party as the bulwark against the threat.

“Because of differences in ideology and values and the worship of Cold War thinking, there still exists bias, misunderstandings and doubts about China in international public opinion,” vice propaganda minister Wang Chen said in an interview published in the party newspaper Study Times this week. Wang said that some people he did not further identify used human rights, Tibet and other issues to “obstruct our country’s domestic stability.”

“We should reasonably, favourably and appropriately conduct a struggle for international public opinion,” Wang said.