The Battle for China's Most Powerful Office

[Draggingtree]

Der Spiegel:

The Battle for China's Most Powerful Office

By Erich Follath and Wieland Wagner

 

 

DPA

China will replace its leadership at the next Communist Party convention in early November. Despite well-laid plans, a bitter power struggle has emerged between two politicians. One, Xi Jinping, seems destined to become the country's next leader. The other, Bo Xilai, is in prison and his wife facing possible execution. Here, the story of a troubled Communist Party transition.

 

 

The United States has the White House, Russia the Kremlin, France the Elysée Palace and Germany the Federal Chancellery, but what the People's Republic of China has is a secret.

 

High, red walls shield the country's leaders in this mysterious place, armed security personnel are posted in front of heavily guarded buildings with poetic names like the "Hall of Purple Light," and hidden cameras monitor every step taken in the direction of China's inner sanctum. The complex, covering about one square kilometer (roughly 250 acres) near Tiananmen Square in the Beijing city center, is called Zhongnanhai. The buildings, set in landscaped grounds, are both the headquarters of the Communist Party and the seat of government.