On May 9th, citing sources at the 301 military hospital in Beijing, the Times (London) reported that Chinese vice premier Huang Ju had died of pancreatic cancer. A short while later, Hong Kong's Phoenix TV, which has close ties to Beijing, also reported that Huang Ju had passed away.
Within the hour, and after the State Council--China's Cabinet--took the unusual step of denouncing these reports as "totally unfounded," Phoenix TV retracted and apologized for the story, calling it "purely a rumor."
The Times followed by reporting both the government's denial and the fact that its sources "expressed surprise at the denial of his death."
The next day, Hong Kong's Ming Pao reported that Huang Ju was in a coma and on life support at the PLA General Hospital (i.e., the 301 military hospital) in Beijing and that the State Council's press office had issued an urgent bulletin to all media outlets, including websites, instructing them to use the "standard-issue Xinhua script" and to comply with Xinhua editorial guidance as to how news related to Huang was to be presented.
Meanwhile, official Chinese media have made no mention of the condition of the man who ranks number six in the country's political hierarchy and who, as executive vice premier, is in charge of national economic and financial affairs.
Huang Ju, aged 69 and a member of the Shanghai clique, is a protégé of former president Jiang Zemin. With Jiang's active support, Huang, a former mayor and party chief of Shanghai, was promoted to the Politburo's standing committee in 2002.
Jiang Zemin, Huang Ju, and Chen Liangyu (who succeeded Huang as party chief of Shanghai) have formed the clique's "iron triangle." In September 2006, Chen Liangyu was ousted as Shanghai party boss for his involvement in a social security fund scandal. Whether Huang Ju was involved as well is unclear; however, there has been speculation that Huang was next in line to get sacked.
Huang's demise--literal or figurative--would constitute a heavy blow to the Shanghai clique in its ongoing struggle with incumbent President Hu Jintao for control of the policy agenda. Reports of Huang's death occur only months before the crucial 17th Party Congress, when Hu is expected to replace many of Jiang's men with his own. The timing of the Party Congress may explain the sensitivity and confusion surrounding news reports of Huang's condition.
Last month, ostensibly to further the goal of greater transparency, Beijing unveiled its long-awaited "Regulations on Government Information Openness." These are scheduled to take effect in May 2008. Under the new regulations, the government will maintain its right to prevent release of state secrets. The health of a leader has traditionally been treated as a state secret. It remains to be seen whether, after May 2008, cases such as Huang's will be reported any differently.
From Hong Kong's Apple Daily: Wen Jiabao on the left and president Hu Jintao knocking the Shanghai
clique over like dominoes, which show from left to right Chen Liangyu, Huang Ju, and Jiang Zemin.
