胡锦涛访沪备受关注

Wang Xiangwei
Oct 01, 2007

As the 2007 Special Olympics is scheduled to begin in Shanghai tomorrow, the mainland's largest metropolis is in a festive mood. But the palpable excitement is not just about that.

The gleeful murmurs are because President Hu Jintao is expected to officiate at the opening ceremony.

As is customary, Mr Hu will use the opportunity to tour the city, meeting officials and ordinary people, and dispensing his wisdom.

If he turns up as scheduled, what Mr Hu says will be closely monitored and dissected in Shanghai and elsewhere in the country, and not just because his remarks will give a clear indication of the central government's position on the status of Shanghai.

Many of Shanghai's residents are seriously worried that the city's standing as the country's premier financial centre could be fading following the arrest of the city's former party boss, Chen Liangyu .

Many Shanghainese are wondering why Tianjin was selected as the testing ground for the so-called "money through-train" scheme, which will allow mainland residents to invest directly in overseas stock markets.

Even more importantly, people will focus their attention upon the interaction between Mr Hu and his host, Shanghai's new party secretary Xi Jinping .

After all, Mr Xi has emerged as one of the strongest candidates to be elected as a new member of the Politburo Standing Committee at the 17th National Congress, which is just two weeks away. He is also likely to be one of the chosen few to compete for Mr Hu's job when the president retires in 2012.

Mr Xi's rising fortunes can also be seen in the fact that official media have uncharacteristically gone out of their way to heap praise on Shanghai. Following the People's Daily's front-page article with the fulsome headline "Glad to hear good tidings from Shanghai", Xinhua released another article praising Shanghai on Friday. It claimed that this year, Shanghai has a more human touch, more harmony, and its residents have a more comfortable life.

Mr Xi became Shanghai party secretary in March. While the People's Daily article was more subtle, focusing on the changes, Xinhua was more forthright, quoting Mr Xi directly and saying he had urged officials to place the interests of the ordinary people above all else.

The state media's fulsome praise is incredible, given that Mr Xi has been in Shanghai just seven months and it is impossible for him to have affected as many changes as the media have outlined.

The plaudits may serve two purposes. They will help to smooth the way for Mr Hu's visit. As is the way with mainland politics, when an official is toppled, whatever he has done is deemed wrong. So, the official media needs to portray a changing Shanghai.

But such praise will no doubt raise the intensity of speculation on Mr Xi's career advancement at home and abroad. That may well be the subtle intention of the mainland leadership.

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/ ... ss=China&s=NewsWang Xiangwei
Oct 01, 2007

As the 2007 Special Olympics is scheduled to begin in Shanghai tomorrow, the mainland's largest metropolis is in a festive mood. But the palpable excitement is not just about that.

The gleeful murmurs are because President Hu Jintao is expected to officiate at the opening ceremony.

As is customary, Mr Hu will use the opportunity to tour the city, meeting officials and ordinary people, and dispensing his wisdom.

If he turns up as scheduled, what Mr Hu says will be closely monitored and dissected in Shanghai and elsewhere in the country, and not just because his remarks will give a clear indication of the central government's position on the status of Shanghai.

Many of Shanghai's residents are seriously worried that the city's standing as the country's premier financial centre could be fading following the arrest of the city's former party boss, Chen Liangyu .

Many Shanghainese are wondering why Tianjin was selected as the testing ground for the so-called "money through-train" scheme, which will allow mainland residents to invest directly in overseas stock markets.

Even more importantly, people will focus their attention upon the interaction between Mr Hu and his host, Shanghai's new party secretary Xi Jinping .

After all, Mr Xi has emerged as one of the strongest candidates to be elected as a new member of the Politburo Standing Committee at the 17th National Congress, which is just two weeks away. He is also likely to be one of the chosen few to compete for Mr Hu's job when the president retires in 2012.

Mr Xi's rising fortunes can also be seen in the fact that official media have uncharacteristically gone out of their way to heap praise on Shanghai. Following the People's Daily's front-page article with the fulsome headline "Glad to hear good tidings from Shanghai", Xinhua released another article praising Shanghai on Friday. It claimed that this year, Shanghai has a more human touch, more harmony, and its residents have a more comfortable life.

Mr Xi became Shanghai party secretary in March. While the People's Daily article was more subtle, focusing on the changes, Xinhua was more forthright, quoting Mr Xi directly and saying he had urged officials to place the interests of the ordinary people above all else.

The state media's fulsome praise is incredible, given that Mr Xi has been in Shanghai just seven months and it is impossible for him to have affected as many changes as the media have outlined.

The plaudits may serve two purposes. They will help to smooth the way for Mr Hu's visit. As is the way with mainland politics, when an official is toppled, whatever he has done is deemed wrong. So, the official media needs to portray a changing Shanghai.

But such praise will no doubt raise the intensity of speculation on Mr Xi's career advancement at home and abroad. That may well be the subtle intention of the mainland leadership.

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/ ... ss=China&s=News