Who’s Hu? The former hydroelectric engineer is an enigma. His official biography reveals that Hu “occasionally danced solo at parties” when he was young. As former head of the Communist Youth League, Hu is identified with the young–the majority in last week’s protests. In the powerful seven-man Politburo standing committee, he’s a “swing voter” who can get along with various power blocs. Said a Western diplomat. “He’s the lowest common denominator in Chinese politics, a handy trait during a leadership split.”
The protests were a setback for Jiang and Zhu, who sought closer Sino-U.S. ties. Jiang has groomed Hu as his heir apparent, and Hu’s sudden prominence could accelerate his rise, or it could make him the target of a conservative backlash. Few Chinese forget how the late Deng Xiaoping purged two would-be successors in the face of unrest. “Poor Hu Jintao,” sympathized one participant in an university computer billboard. “You might be a scapegoat.”
