The Fifteenth Central Committee of the Chinese communist party: full-fledged technocratic leadership with partial control by Jiang Zemin

Abstract

With the departure of Deng Xiaoping and other Communist veterans, Chinese politics is entering a new era. The ascent of technocrats to dominance of the leadership is now clearer than ever in the composition of the new Fifteenth Central Committee (CC) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). All seven members of the Standing Committee of the CC's Politburo, the most pwoerful group in the country, are technocrats. What are the main characteristics of technocratic elites? How have they come to power? In what ways do they differ from their predecesors? Does the departure of Deng and other Long March elders mean that strongman politics, which has characterized the governance of China for dynasties, has finally been replaced by a more modern collective leadership? Will this technocratic metamorphosis make the regime any more accountable to the Chinese poeple? How will technocrats respond to challenges from other elite groups and to the political and socioeconomic problems facing the country? Is China becoming a regime that can best be defined as technocratic rather than Communist? If so, what are the future implications for China and the security and development of the Asia-Pacific region? Research on China's new leaders will be worthwhile if it can begin to answer any of these questions.