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 the 24 members of the ruling Politburo and 64 of the 340 permanent and alternate members of the Central Committee.
Among the 131 senior party officials who resigned were a few supporters of Deng's modernization drive and daring economic reforms. The majority, however, belonged to an older, revolutionary generation whose primary loyalties were to the past. Gone were half a dozen aging military men, including the ailing Marshal Ye Jianying, 88, who had helped Mao Tse-tung plan the Long March of 1934-35 (see SPECIAL SECTION). Gone too was Politburo Member Deng Yingchao, 81, the widow of Premier Chou En-lai and the country's highest-ranking woman official. Also on the retirement list were three former Ministers of Public Security, as well as such veterans of the Cultural Revolution as Wang Dongxing, 69, a onetime Mao bodyguard who in the mid-1970s rose to become a vice chairman of the party.
The most significant changes involved the People's Liberation Army, a bastion of reactionary opposition to Deng's economic and political reforms. Defense Minister Zhang Aiping, 75, though widely credited with having helped to modernize the armed forces, was dropped from the Central Committee, leading to speculation that he might soon lose his government post as well. Among other military retirees was Zhang Zhixiu, 67, former commander of Chinese forces along the Vietnamese border. Zhang had reportedly been eager to teach the Hanoi government, a bitter enemy of Peking, a military "lesson," which China had attempted less than successfully in 1979. Zhang was overruled by Deng, who was said to have feared that the general was developing a "mountain-stronghold mentality," a tendency to take matters into his own hands.
Obviously age was not the only consideration in deciding which generals should shed their uniforms. Both Chief of Staff Yang Dezhi, 75, and Peking Garrison Commander Qin Jiwei, 74, are older than some of the retirees, but both are staunchly loyal to Deng, and both remain in their posts. Generally, as in his decision earlier this year to decrease by one-fourth the 4 million- strong armed forces, Deng's aim is to reduce the power and influence of the military establishment, thereby strengthening his own leadership and programs. The process should be completed this week when the Central Committee, in another closed session, chooses the younger and for the most part better- educated Deng loyalists who will replace the retiring veterans.