At important ceremonial events in China since the 1990s, all eyes are usually trained on the man donning the mandarin-collared Mao suit, a garment reserved for the Communist Party’s most powerful publicly acknowledged leader.
As the top Party leadership strolled briskly out onto the Tiananmen rostrum on Sept. 3 to review a massive military parade, however, everybody’s gaze was fixed on the frail, pale figure in a regular business suit and maroon tie.
Positioned to the left of jet-black, sharply cut Mao suited Party boss Xi Jinping was his predecessor Jiang Zemin. At one point in the parade, the pair were spotted having what seemed like a brief, cordial chat.
The appearance of Jiang at a showcase parade meant to emphasize Xi’s mastery over the Party’s armed forces is the latest development in what many Chinese observers are calling a “death match“ between two major Party factions—one helmed by current leader Xi Jinping, and the other by ex-leader Jiang Zemin. This development shows that the struggle hasn’t reached a resolution, and the ex-Party chief’s political future is far from secure, analysts said.
