Political theatre as China's new leaders take stage

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's political system is opaque, its leaders inscrutable and its announcements heavy with Communist jargon.

So when it comes time to name a leadership team, there is no electioneering, no stump speeches and no shaking hands or holding babies -- rumors and whispers are more the order of the day.

But on Monday, months of speculation were put to rest when President Hu Jintao unveiled the country's nine-man inner-circle in a carefully staged piece of political theatre.

The first clue for those lucky enough to secure a pass to enter the Great Hall of the People was in the red carpet itself.

Peer over the rows of plants and flowers to count the number of small, brass markers tacked into the floor on the elevated stage and the attentive audience member knows how many seats the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee will include.

But while the ceremony was billed as a chance for China's leaders to meet the press, the "meeting" was a little one-sided.

"We have not arranged for questions to be taken. Please do not raise questions," journalists were told in an announcement also admonishing them to remain orderly and stay in their seats.

Another period of waiting ensues.

And then, a spokesman takes the podium and leads applause for China's rulers, who, for full dramatic effect, enter not through a door but from behind a painted screen, marching single file in order of their rank to their places on the stage.

Even their dress gives away little of the personality of the men who almost all have the technocratic backgrounds common to most of the Party elite of their generation.

Number four, Jia Qinglin, wears a three-button suit. Parliament chief Wu Bangguo has a dotted tie.

But otherwise, they are dressed identically, in dark suits, white shirts and red ties. As if in deference, the state television news anchor is in the same outfit.

While Chinese leaders periodically make "inspection tours" of different parts of the country, ordinary citizens have almost no chance of contact with the elite.

In a system where soliciting votes from within the Party is expressly forbidden and where there is no incentive to win public support, seeing leaders in unscripted moments is rare.

So when Hu introduced the members of the Standing Committee continuing for a second term in office -- Wu, Jia, Premier Wen Jiabao and propaganda tsar Li Changchun -- saying "You are quite familiar with them", it was hard to know if he was being ironic.

"Comrades He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang were members of the Political Bureau of the 16th CPC Central Committee. You are also familiar with them," Hu said of two of the four newcomers, who most Chinese would not know if they walked into them on the street.

Only Wen lived up to his 'man of the people' image, waving animatedly when he was introduced and grinning at the audience when Hu expressed thanks to "our friends from the news media" for their reporting on the Party's leadership meeting.