Jiang Zemin

Many Americans watched on TV or read about the beaming Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, at the APEC in Seattle last month. They saw his perceived willingness to establish good terms with the U.S. and were somewhat convinced by Jiang's smile that his brutal Communist regime is no longer the same as the butchers in Tian An Men Square back in 1989. The Chinese government not only talks tough in regards to human rights but also continues to pursue its oppressive policies against religious and political dissidents.

After a week filled with rumor and intrigue, the official New China News Agency had the following message Thursday to relay to the world: Former President Jiang Zemin is not dead. Rumors started swirling July 1 when the ailing 84-year-old was conspicuously absent from a ceremony at Beijing's Great Hall of the People commemorating the Communist Party's 90th anniversary. That set off online speculation, highlighting the growing power of the Internet in China and the party's flat-footedness.

Jiang Zemin, the Shanghai politician selected Saturday as the new head of the Chinese Communist Party, seemed for a few days this spring to have badly mishandled a controversial case of censorship. As student-led pro-democracy protests escalated in Beijing in late April, Jiang exerted his power as Shanghai's Communist Party chief to fire Qin Benli, the widely respected editor of the World Economic Herald, a liberal weekly newspaper. Jiang, 62, justified his action as necessary to prevent publication of articles sympathetic to the protests--articles he said would "exacerbate certain factors for social disorder."

Chinese censors are forcing some art galleries to delay shows, including two with works by Andy Warhol and depicting the Dalai Lama, as the government tries to control the capital's appearance during the Olympic Games. Galleri Faurschou said it postponed this weekend's show of Warhol's art because censors deemed it inappropriate to exhibit foreign works during China's biggest public event. Xin Beijing Art Gallery said it scrapped a weekend display of Ma Baozhong's work because censors found fault with his oil paintings of the Dalai Lama and former president Jiang Zemin.

There won't be the usual glitzy stars at tonight's state dinner for China's president--unless you count Harold Ickes, a former White House deputy chief of staff and a stellar performer at the Senate campaign finance hearings.

In solidarity with a man who inspires so many other democrats in China, I am on a hunger strike in front of the United Nations while Chinese President Jiang Zemin takes part in the U.N. 50th anniversary celebrations. As leaders of the world congregate to observe their successes, I and many other Chinese democrats will ponder the future of our colleagues suffering at the hands of the likes of Jiang--a hand President Clinton will shake today. Who is Chen Ziming and those who support him?

In the 45 years since the creation of the People's Republic of China, only two men have held undisputed power over this vast land of 1.2 billion people. Communist China's founder, Mao Tse-tung, died in 1976. His ultimate successor at the helm, Deng Xiaoping, frail and no longer capable of speaking in public, turns 90 years old today. Despite several years of rumors that he is dead or dying, Deng stubbornly clings to life.

China took key steps Saturday toward entrenching a successor generation of leaders in power, with Communist Party boss Jiang Zemin assuming the presidency and longtime security chief Qiao Shi getting the top parliamentary post. The moves were approved by huge majorities in the National People's Congress, China's rubber-stamp Parliament. They reflect the wishes of senior leader Deng Xiaoping, 88, who is trying to pass his power on to a small group centered on Jiang.

BEIJING -- After months of intense speculation, China made a sweeping overhaul of its leadership today, replacing an aging crop of officials with slightly younger ones who will rule a dynamic but troubled nation beset by unemployment, corruption and political stagnation. Vice President Hu Jintao was named general secretary of the Communist Party, a promotion to the top job that seals his rapid rise in the world's sole remaining Communist giant.

More than a year after becoming China's president, Hu Jintao was handed the full reins of power Sunday when his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, gave up the nation's most powerful military post. The move ends an awkward power-sharing arrangement that has seen two rival camps maneuvering for position as China faces a number of major foreign and domestic policy challenges, including relations with Taiwan, North Korea's nuclear program, government corruption and rapid economic growth.

Three years after leaving the political stage, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin is back in the national spotlight. So is the famous slogan that seemed to have retired with its creator: the murky theory of the "Three Represents." Jiang, who turned 80 on Thursday, engineered his comeback through the publication last week of his selected works.

He speaks English and shows it off by reciting the Gettysburg Address. Now former President Jiang Zemin is adopting another Western custom: the post-retirement publishing binge. Ahead of his 80th birthday Thursday, government publishers have released a retrospective on Jiang's foreign travels -- the closest thing yet to a Chinese presidential memoir -- and a three-volume set of speeches, letters and decrees.

American businessman Robert Lawrence Kuhn said he wrote a biography of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin to shed light on this Asian nation. Instead, "The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin" has mostly been mocked by U.S. critics, who call it an artful piece of propaganda. Here in China, however, the book is a hit. Biographies of living leaders are basically taboo. Any peek behind the country's great wall of political secrecy has bestseller potential.

More than a year after becoming China's president, Hu Jintao was handed the full reins of power Sunday when his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, gave up the nation's most powerful military post. The move ends an awkward power-sharing arrangement that has seen two rival camps maneuvering for position as China faces a number of major foreign and domestic policy challenges, including relations with Taiwan, North Korea's nuclear program, government corruption and rapid economic growth.

Former President Jiang Zemin will quit as China's military chief Sunday, handing full power to his successor, Hu Jintao, a Hong Kong newspaper said. Hu, 61, would have control over the Communist Party, the state and the armed forces, the South China Morning Post said. The paper quoted unidentified party sources, but there was no official word. The possible transition has been the subject of speculation during party meetings that will end Sunday.

Some people just don't know when to quit. And when the person in question can influence the course of history in the world's most populous country, the consequences of obstinacy can be nationally debilitating. Jiang Zemin, the former general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and president of China, gave up those posts in 2002 and 2003, respectively.

Walters to Interview Chinese Leader: Barbara Walters has been granted an interview with Chinese leader Jiang Zemin for ABC's "20/20." Jiang Zemin, the Communist Party general secretary, is said to be the first of the Chinese leaders to give a TV interview in over a year. The interview will air June 1.

Former President Jiang Zemin will quit as China's military chief Sunday, handing full power to his successor, Hu Jintao, a Hong Kong newspaper said. Hu, 61, would have control over the Communist Party, the state and the armed forces, the South China Morning Post said. The paper quoted unidentified party sources, but there was no official word. The possible transition has been the subject of speculation during party meetings that will end Sunday.

The walls of Zhongnanhai, China's equivalent of the White House, are high, red and designed to keep prying eyes at bay. More than a year after Hu Jintao was named president and Wen Jiabao premier in modern China's first orderly transfer of power, many are still wondering who's in charge. The short answer, analysts say, is no one -- at least not fully.

Mao Tse-tung started the tradition of an annual summer retreat for China's Communist leaders, and for years the nation's most powerful officials have come each August to the Beidaihe resort along northern China's Bohai Sea. Mao showed a commanding chop as he swam in front of his photographer, and Deng Xiaoping once dived into the sea in an apparent effort to scotch rumors about his poor health.