By NOZOMU HAYASHI/ Correspondent
BEIJING - Conservatives backed by party elders have defeated reform-minded pragmatists in the race for the highest positions in China's leadership.
At least four of the seven members of the Central Politburo Standing Committee are firm allies of former leader Jiang Zemin and only one is a clear reformist.
But at the next level down, in the 25-member Central Politburo, no one faction secured a strong majority.
On Nov. 15, the Chinese Communist Party announced the results of the five-yearly reshuffle of its leadership panels, a process which additionally saw power transferred from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping, the party's new general secretary.
The reshuffle made other headlines, too, including the surprise omission from the Standing Committee of Li Yuanchao, head of the party's Central Organization Department--despite having a strong political and management record. Li was believed to have been a shoe-in until shortly after private meetings at the Beidaihe resort in Hebei province in August, where party leaders met behind closed doors to broker the forthcoming appointments.
Two others who failed to make it to the Standing Committee were Wang Yang, secretary of the Guangdong provincial party committee, and Liu Yandong, a state councilor. Observers had expected both to secure promotion.
Li, Wang and Liu all began their careers in the Communist Youth League, a faction seen as loyal to Hu. Vice Premier Li Keqiang ended up being the only alumnus to obtain a seat in the new Standing Committee.
By contrast, four of the seven Standing Committee members are considered to be close to Jiang Zemin, who preceded Hu as party general secretary.
Zhang Dejiang, another vice premier and secretary of the Chongqing municipal party committee, and Liu Yunshan, head of the party's Central Publicity Department, are both Jiang aides. Yu Zhengsheng, secretary of the Shanghai municipal party committee, is both close to Jiang and a relative of Deng Xiaoping, the late supreme leader. The fourth Jiang ally is Zhang Gaoli, secretary of the Tianjin municipal party committee and an individual who represents the powerful oil industry.
Party sources said there had been proposals during the Beidaihe meetings to appoint both Wang Yang and Li Yuanchao to the Standing Committee, a move which would have granted the youth league faction a greater share of seats.
These two promotions were on the verge of being approved, when Jiang and other conservatives spoke out: They objected to the appointment of supposed reformists--and blocked them.
"The new administration will likely be unenthusiastic about political reform," said one reformist legal specialist, who cast doubt on the likelihood of other reforms too, including greater democracy and freedom of speech.
Reform-minded intellectuals are placing their hopes on only one Standing Committee member: Wang Qishan, who has been named secretary of the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
Son-in-law to the late Yao Yilin, a former vice premier, the "princeling" Wang Qishan is not particularly close to the youth leaguers, but he is known for his expertise and pragmatic approach to financial affairs and global economics. He is believed to have won high support in an informal confidence vote held last autumn by senior party officials.
Some analysts say Wang Qishan may be able to mute the more conservative elements because the Standing Committee is believed to operate on consensus rather than rule by the majority. Important matters that observers believe Wang could swing his way through include the fight against corruption, a serious problem for the party.
Of the 25 Central Politburo members, 15 are new, with three being members of the so-called "sixth-generation," party leaders now around 50 considered potential successors to Xi a decade from now.
The three are: Hu Chunhua, secretary of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's party committee; Sun Zhengcai, secretary of the Jilin provincial party committee; and Zhao Leji, secretary of the Shaanxi provincial party committee.
Earlier there had been speculation that youth leaguers would be granted a significant increase in their presence in the Central Politburo in exchange for conceding seats in the Standing Committee. But one diplomatic source in Beijing denied that this deal took place.
"It is a well-balanced lineup," the source said. "But you could see it as a product of compromises made among different factions."
In addition to Li Keqiang, Li Yuanchao, Wang Yang and Liu Yandong, all of whom were re-elected, there are now two new youth leaguers in the Central Politburo: Hu Chunhua, and Liu Qibao, secretary of the Sichuan provincial party committee. Both are expected to be appointed to key posts, Hu as the secretary of the Guangdong provincial party committee, and Liu presumably as the head of the party's Central Organization Department.
But two youth leaguers who had been considered almost as likely to win seats failed entirely: Zhou Qiang, secretary of the Hunan provincial party committee; and Ling Jihua, head of the party's Central United Front Work Department. Ling earlier served as the director of the General Office of the party's Central Committee--a leading aide to Hu Jintao.
But if the reformists failed to win big in the Central Politburo so too did the conservatives.
At least two new non-youth league members are considered close to Hu Jintao. They are Guo Jinlong, secretary of the Beijing municipal party committee, whom Hu Jintao promoted to the capital from Anhui province; and Zhang Chunxian, secretary of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region's party committee, who is known for his balanced and practical style of management.
If Guo and Zhang Chunxian are able to align themselves with the youth leaguers in the Central Politburo, their pragmatists' alliance might secure greater influence in policy decisions.
Meanwhile, the Central Politburo now has two women members: Liu Yandong was re-elected from before, but joining her is newcomer Sun Chunlan, secretary of the Fujian provincial party committee.
It is the first time since China's open-door reform policy began in the 1980s that the body has ever had two women members.
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