China Golden Handshakes in Peking

PARTY SHAPES YOUNGER FUTURE headlined the English-language China Daily last week, shortly after the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party had < ended a closed meeting at Peking's Great Hall of the People. It was an unprecedented gathering, with dozens of senior officials voting "voluntarily" for their own retirement. As expected, China's leader, Deng Xiaoping, 81, had successfully cleared the way for the promotion to positions of power of some 70 of his younger loyalists. The only surprise, in fact, was the extent to which he had carried the day. All told, the party announced the retirement of ten of...