The Shadowy World of Chinese Politics Shows in New Openness

President Hu Jintao is engaging in what may be the most sweeping purge of party leaders since Zhao Ziyang, the party’s general secretary, was ousted by Deng Xiaoping in 1989. While publically the investigations, including high ranking officials in the Politburo Standing Committee are targetted, but only those who have lost power from the transition from Jiang Zemin to Mr. Hu.
New York Times

A widening Chinese anticorruption investigation is taking aim at Beijing’s party leaders, a sign that President Hu Jintao intends to continue removing officials he considers insufficiently loyal, people told about the leadership’s planning said.


Some 300 Communist Party investigators have been examining property deals and procurement practices in the capital city since at least late September and have uncovered suspicious dealings that implicate top Chinese leaders, the people said.


[...]Nearly all of those implicated to date are viewed as loyalists to China’s former top leader, Jiang Zemin, or as having resisted the policies of Mr. Hu, the party boss since 2002.


[...]But the two leaders have also signaled that only those they consider allies will have the power to resist investigations of their financial affairs. That message seems intended to shore up support as the leadership prepares for its five-yearly political transition with the convening of the 17th Party Congress next fall.


[...]The party leaders of Beijing and Shanghai, who control great wealth and enjoy broad autonomy, have traditionally served on the ruling Politburo. No major investigations of their activities are likely to be initiated without the approval of the top-most leaders.


[...]One concern is that China remains too vulnerable to boom-bust economic cycles. If today’s double-digit growth rates were to tumble, the resulting slowdown could threaten social stability and the ruling party’s hold on power.


Mr. Hu’s drive to build a “harmonious society” aims to steer more state resources into underdeveloped parts of the economy, including rural areas, rather than supporting frothy investment in the wealthiest cities.


[...]The most recent high-level purge was that of Zhao Ziyang, the party’s general secretary, who was ousted by Deng Xiaoping in 1989 for opposing the crackdown on student-led democracy protests that year.


Some party officials and political observers think Mr. Hu would be reluctant to confirm that corruption extends to the top ruling body. They say it is more likely that any evidence gathered against Mr. Jia would be used to push him into retirement in 2007 and to reduce his political influence in the meantime.