A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

Hero A cult grows around Premier Zhu Rongji

Strategist Zeng Qinghong, political guru

THE CHINESE VICE PRESIDENCY has traditionally been a ceremonial post, reserved for respected but generally powerless figures. Not anymore. Now that China is becoming a major player on the world stage, its leaders have seen fit to elevate the standing of the president and his deputy. Last March Hu Jintao, already No. 5 in the Communist Party hierarchy, was named vice president, a signal that he is being groomed for the top jobs in both party and state.

If President Jiang Zemin is chairman of the board, then Hu, 55, is general manager of the company (the party). Hu oversees all the day-to-day work while Jiang devises overall strategy. Under this arrangement, everyone knows who is boss - Hu cannot challenge the president.

Hu is the perfect compromise candidate. He is popular among younger cadres, taking the time to remember their names and details about their families. For their part, party elders appreciate his modesty and respect. Hu is seen as a "Zhou Enlai II" - a kind man who doesn't put on airs, the antithesis of a pompous bureaucrat. This augurs well for Hu's expected nomination as Jiang's successor because few partymen will have the desire or resolve to mount a credible challenge - at least initially.

Hu graduated from prestigious Qinghua University in 1965 with a degree in hydraulic engineering. Declared too "individualistic," he spent the height of the Cultural Revolution in obscurity. Eager to escape Beijing, he volunteered for a post at the Liujiaxia Hydraulic Power Plant in the northwestern province of Gansu. Before long he caught the eye of the provincial party boss and was sent for theoretical training at the Central Party School in Beijing, where he learned proper respect for party elders.

About the same time, Hu became head of the local Communist Youth League. In 1982, after the liberal Hu Yaobang (no relation) became party chief, Hu was transferred to the league's Central Committee. Before long he was in charge. Hu never forgot his patron. On a recent trip to Hu Yaobang's hometown in Jiangxi, Hu paid a private visit to his tomb and shed tears for his late mentor.

In 1985, at a youthful 42, Hu was sent to take charge in Guizhou, one of China's poorest southern provinces. Contrary to perceptions, such a posting was not a demotion - Youth League cadres are customarily transferred out of the organization after 40. Besides, to rise within the party, neophytes are expected to get administrative experience in the provinces. That Hu was able to make a smooth transition from the Youth League into political office is a testament to his abilities, plus the timely help he received from various patrons.

In Guizhou, Hu's performance as party chief was hardly outstanding, though to his credit he trekked through 86 municipalities and counties, often inspecting the poorest areas. Hu knew full well that in Chinese politics, merely to survive without tumbles is an achievement. Hence, he evaded the local and national media and maintained a low profile during his four-year tenure.

Next up was a more demanding post: Tibet party chief. Shortly after his arrival in Lhasa in 1988, monks sympathetic to the Dalai Lama rampaged in the streets. Indeed, Hu's Tibetan service was to be a trial by fire; to this day he suffers heart ailments from having worked on the roof of the world. Any major mishap would have put an end to his political aspirations, so he followed Beijing's dictates to the letter. To isolate secessionists and improve the party's image, he carried out a classic carrot-and-stick policy - crushing separatists while promoting economic development. Hu's uncompromising methods surprised the skeptics and endeared him to party stalwarts.

Hu also played his cards right by being among the first batch of provincial leaders to declare allegiance to the center after the Tiananmen crackdown. In 1992, he was promoted to the Politburo standing committee. Last year, he sang the virtues of promoting talent from all over China, an open jab at Jiang Zemin's "Shanghai faction." But when Jiang gave him the cold shoulder, Hu quickly shut up. Not everyone is impressed with Hu's eagerness to toe the party line. Detractors accuse him of being susceptible to manipulation by party elders who helped him rise. Still, this "weakness" wins him support across the political spectrum, even outside the party.

In recent years, Hu has been involved in the party's personnel matters, making key appointments and promotions and determining the roster of candidates for the central government. Hu is useful to Jiang in yet another way - helping contain the rising authority and appeal of Premier Zhu Rongji.

China's leaders are counting on Hu to maintain Jiang's political and economic reforms - without jeopardizing one-party rule. Hu may come into his own in the next century and embark on a transformation of China's political landscape. After all, when Jiang came to power, most China-watchers thought he was a bland apparatchik too.