Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
His successor, Jiang Zemin, was an electrical engineer and, having been
born in 1926, did not share the revolutionary and military background of
Mao, Zhou Enlai, and Deng. From engineering jobs, he soon moved into
party affairs. Like Mao and Deng as the paramount leader, he simultane-
ously held the three key positions of general secretary of the Communist
Party, president of the PRC, and chairman of the central military com-
mission. Jiang presided over a period of rapid economic growth and little
controversy. He did not permit political liberalization. His premier was
Zhu Rongji, trained as an electrical engineer, and a party cadre.
Jiang's successor, Hu Jiabao, spent his entire career in the party. Like
Jiang (and Zhu), he was an engineer, and like Jiang simultaneously held
the three key positions of general secretary of the Communist Party, presi-
dent of the PRC, and chairman of the central military commission. As a
young man, he worked on the Liujiania Dam on the Yellow River. Later he
served as party and government leader of the Tibet Autonomous Region.
Again like Jiang, he presided over a period of rapid economic growth and
little controversy. He often advocated a “Harmonious Society.” he term is
intentionally vague, but at least does not mean conflict and violence.
His premier was Wen Jiabao, who trained as an engineer and geologist.
Like Jiang and Hu, he has a long career as a party cadre. Like Hu, Wen sup-
ported economic growth, but occasionally tempered it with concerns about
social welfare. A narrow reading of the constitution gives the day-to-day
management of the government to the premier, but since the president is
also the secretary general of the party, the premier does as he says.
A new leader, Xi Jinping, succeeded Hu as general secretary and presi-
dent in 2013. Xi was educated as a chemical engineer, following the techni-
cal background typical of Chinese leaders. His father was an early leader
of the Communist Party but was purged in the Cultural Revolution.
The son also suffered and was sent to the countryside in 1969 as a teenager.
He survived and soon began a career in the Communist Party serving in
Shaanxi, Hebei, Fujian, and Zhejiang provinces and in Shanghai, areas
of rapid economic growth. He is known for his opposition to corruption.
Rivers: The Three Gorges Dam has been the most contentious environ-
mental issue in China. It is the largest in the world measured by generating
capacity. Advocated as early as 1916 by Sun Yat-sen and again by Mao in
the 1950s, it dams the Yangtze River to impound nearly 40 cubic kilome-
ters of water. It was an example of the gigantism of hydroelectric projects
of the 1920s and 1930s found in the United States, the Soviet Union, Italy,
and elsewhere. In 1992 the hundreds of abstentions and negative votes in
Search WWH ::




Custom Search