CHINA: In a surprise move that raises hopes of a new political era in China, former leader Mr Jiang Zemin handed over the leadership of the army to his successor President Hu Jintao yesterday.
The official news agency Xinhua gave even Communist Party insiders a jolt when it reported that the party's ruling body had accepted 78-year-old Mr Jiang's resignation during a four-day secret meeting of the party elite.
Significantly, it further signals the rise to power of the new generation of leaders who are untainted by the June 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
The plenum of the party's Central Committee appointed President Hu (61) to replace Mr Jiang, making the younger leader head of the party, the state and the army - a significant change in the balance of power in the world's most populous country.
"The Hu Jintao era has started," said one analyst.
Xinhua said that yesterday, the last day of the plenum, Mr Hu and Mr Jiang "shook hands cordially, triggering an outburst of loud applause from all present", the upbeat tone of the traditional communist rhetoric neatly masking what was developing into a power struggle at the top of the party.
His resignation effectively heads off the prospect of a damaging battle for power that could have led to instability.
Diplomats and political analysts had not expected any major announcements from the closed- door meeting of the 198-member committee, which focused on finding ways to improve party governance.
There were reports that Mr Jiang stepped down as head of the 2.5-million strong armed forces because of health problems, although the communiqué released on Xinhua made no reference to this.
Mr Jiang, China's most important politician for the last decade, made a "short but emotional" speech, and the communiqué noted his decision to go quietly showed "his broad-mindedness as a true Communist". Mr Jiang's departure is unlikely to result in any fundamental changes to domestic and foreign policy, although it will probably ease tensions with Taiwan and may mean a more conciliatory approach to Hong Kong.
There were sighs of relief in Taiwan at Mr Jiang's resignation, and analysts said fraught relations with Taipei's archenemy could become more stable under Mr Hu, although he too has a hard-line approach to the island.
Significantly, Vice President Zeng Qinghong, Mr Jiang's protégé, was not appointed to the party's Central Military Commission.
Mr Xu Caihou (61), a member of the military commission and an ally of Mr Hu, was made vice-chairman, Xinhua said.
Mr Jiang was appointed immediately after the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in June 1989 in which thousands died.
The massacre was alluded to in the communiqué as an "extremely complicated domestic situation".
Mr Jiang resigned in a letter dated September 1st, in which he said he wanted to retire "for the good of the long-term development of the cause of the party and the people" and had decided to resign after "meticulous consideration".
Analysts were surprised by Mr Jiang's resignation but said it was a move in the right direction, which would allow Mr Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao more room to manoeuvre and allow them to consolidate their positions.
Party leaders wanted a smooth transfer of power as they wrestle with economic and social problems, including rural poverty and widespread corruption.
Mr Jiang held onto his military post when he stepped down in 2002 after 13 years as party leader. That helped him retain influence even as Mr Hu took over as party leader and, in early 2003, as president in a long-planned handover of power to younger leaders. It seems likely that Mr Jiang received some kind of assurance that his political legacy would remain intact before he resigned. He was not due to retire until 2007.
Analysts said Mr Jiang's influence would deteriorate rapidly as he lacks the political clout of his predecessor, Deng Xiaoping, to influence policy while holding no official position.
Deng gave up his most powerful titles in 1989, retaining only the chairmanship of the Chinese bridge association, but remained powerful until he died in 1997.
The 83-year-old Communist Party has lately experimented with modest political change and implemented market reforms, referred to as socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Hu: reformist is now sole leader
Two years into his presidency, Hu Jintao has replaced Jiang Zemin as head of the army, giving him control of China's top three positions and neatly wrapping up the leadership succession issue.
Mr Hu (61) replaced Mr Jiang as head of the Communist Party in 2003 and as president in 2003, but was destined to be overshadowed by his predecessor as long as the wily former president still had his hands on the army.
Mr Hu's finest hour came during the SARS crisis last year, when he declared war on the epidemic and won - ending a government cover-up, lifting press restrictions on reporting the disease and sacking the health minister and the mayor of Beijing.
Subsequently he has worked on building his image among the population by portraying himself as a man of the people, keen to help the rural poor and to end corruption.
The former engineer earned his political stripes in his handling of Tibet, where he oversaw the crackdown on pro-independence protests in 1988-89.
After the Tiananmen Square massacre in June 1989, Mr Hu sent a congratulatory telegram to then-leader Deng Xiaoping, who appointed Mr Hu to the politburo's standing committee in 1992.
He has a reputation as a hardliner, but has also tried to make the party more transparent and introduced modest political, media and judicial reforms aimed at ending corruption.
There are few details known about his personal life, except that he likes dancing and ping-pong.
Jiang: compromise candidate appointed after Tiananmen massacre
Jiang Zemin, who resigned his last official post yesterday, was appointed head of the Communist Party in the disarray following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
Mr Jiang (78), was a compromise candidate when he replaced reformer party boss Zhao Ziyang, who was ousted for sympathising with the democracy movement crushed by the army in Beijing in June of that year.
Mr Jiang's appointment was supposed to be temporary but the wily Shanghai mayor showed enough political dexterity to stay in power for over 10 years. He dug in his heels, adding the presidency to his list of titles in 1993.
He successfully outflanked his rivals, imposed himself on the bureaucracy and gave himself plenty of profile abroad. His rendition of Elvis Presley's Love Me Tender at a meeting in Manila is legendary.
Under his stewardship, China grew from a nation struggling to implement market reforms to the seventh-largest economy in the world and it has seen its longest period of stable economic growth under communism. It joined the World Trade Organisation and won the right to stage the 2008 Olympics. Mr Jiang, a one-time car plant manager and Soviet-trained technocrat, was a relative unknown when he was installed by former leader Deng Xiaoping 13 years ago while serving in Shanghai.
His philosophical tract, Three Represents, has been written into the party constitution alongside the hallowed Mao Zedong's Thought and Deng Xiaoping's Theory, securing Jiang a place in China's socialist pantheon and paving the way for his decision to quit as army chief.
Analysts say Mr Jiang's residual influence will probably be limited because his power is derived from his posts and he lacks the personal authority of his predecessors, including Mr Deng.