Hatchet man to henchman, China's Zeng bends to times

By Lindsay Beck

BEIJING (Reuters) - No one knows better how to ride the political winds within China's Communist Party than Vice-President Zeng Qinghong.

He rose to power as the hatchet man of former leader Jiang Zemin, but as President Hu Jintao consolidates power in his turn, the 68-year-old is emerging from the shadow of his old boss and benefactor to become his own deal-maker among the elite.

"Zeng Qinghong is probably the most mysterious leader at the moment in terms of his position and in terms of his political alignments," said Joseph Cheng, professor of political science at City University of Hong Kong.

Fifth in the Party hierarchy, Zeng, a native of the southern province of Jiangxi, wields more clout than his rank suggests and will be trying to expand that at a key Party congress in October.

Five years ago he began his term on the nine-man Politburo Standing Committee that rules China as Jiang's man, and was said to be waiting in the wings if Hu faltered.

But he has since made his own political name, most notably by working closely with Hu to weather pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong that brought half a million people into the streets, and on Taiwan policy.

Last year, Zeng also went along with Hu's politically charged decision to sack Chen Liangyu as Party boss of Shanghai, the financial hub that was Jiang's political stronghold.

But patronage is a potent force in Chinese politics and Zeng, a rocket scientist-turned-apparatchik, owes his rise to Jiang. Even now, analysts say Zeng remains a key avenue through which Jiang can wield power in retirement.