This year’s Frankfurt Book Fair became notorious for how the Chinese state, as guest of honor, tried to use its influence to silence Chinese dissidents invited to speak at the Fair. The incident showcased for the world how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tries to export its intolerance of free speech.
Behind the scenes on the day before the fair opened, another smaller drama took place that has been little remarked upon, but that also reveals a key characteristic of the CCP: Mr. Xi Jinping gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel two books.
Xi is the vice president of the People’s Republic of China and is supposedly the heir to the throne of the CCP regime. His gift consisted of the English versions of Jiang Zemin’s published books: On the Development of China’s Information Technology Industry and Research on Energy Issues in China.
Jiang is the former paramount leader of China who was replaced as head of the CCP by Hu Jintao in 2002. Neither of the books Xi gave Merkel is related to Jiang’s training and work before his involvement in politics. His major at Shanghai Jiaotong University and later in his studies in the Soviet Union was electrical engineering. He is definitely not an expert on IT or energy, and his books have no value in the fields of science and technology.
Chancellor Merkel was elected after Jiang Zemin’s retirement. Now Jiang is only a regular citizen without any title in the Party or the state. There is no personal relationship between him and Merkel. No one could think of a reasonable explanation for this gift.
One month earlier, beyond the expectations of most China experts and analysts, the fourth plenary session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party did not announce Xi Jinping’s appointment as the Vice Chairman of Central Military Commission. His appointment to this position would have paved the way for him to take over the position of general secretary of the CCP Central Committee at the Eighteenth National Congress of the Party.
Xi Jinping is thought to have been handpicked by Jiang Zemin to be the next generation CCP leader who would represent his interests. Hu Jintao successfully stopped or postponed Jiang’s plan at the fourth plenary session. Jiang used the opportunity of the Frankfurt Book Fair to send a message: Xi Jinping belongs to Jiang’s side, and Jiang still has power and influence in China’s politics.
Behind the scenes on the day before the fair opened, another smaller drama took place that has been little remarked upon, but that also reveals a key characteristic of the CCP: Mr. Xi Jinping gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel two books.
Xi is the vice president of the People’s Republic of China and is supposedly the heir to the throne of the CCP regime. His gift consisted of the English versions of Jiang Zemin’s published books: On the Development of China’s Information Technology Industry and Research on Energy Issues in China.
Jiang is the former paramount leader of China who was replaced as head of the CCP by Hu Jintao in 2002. Neither of the books Xi gave Merkel is related to Jiang’s training and work before his involvement in politics. His major at Shanghai Jiaotong University and later in his studies in the Soviet Union was electrical engineering. He is definitely not an expert on IT or energy, and his books have no value in the fields of science and technology.
Chancellor Merkel was elected after Jiang Zemin’s retirement. Now Jiang is only a regular citizen without any title in the Party or the state. There is no personal relationship between him and Merkel. No one could think of a reasonable explanation for this gift.
One month earlier, beyond the expectations of most China experts and analysts, the fourth plenary session of the Seventeenth Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party did not announce Xi Jinping’s appointment as the Vice Chairman of Central Military Commission. His appointment to this position would have paved the way for him to take over the position of general secretary of the CCP Central Committee at the Eighteenth National Congress of the Party.
Xi Jinping is thought to have been handpicked by Jiang Zemin to be the next generation CCP leader who would represent his interests. Hu Jintao successfully stopped or postponed Jiang’s plan at the fourth plenary session. Jiang used the opportunity of the Frankfurt Book Fair to send a message: Xi Jinping belongs to Jiang’s side, and Jiang still has power and influence in China’s politics.
