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No one is sure how Jiang will comport himself in the U.S. In a meeting with Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin last month in Beijing, he displayed much confidence and little arrogance, giving the impression that he has no desire to act as if the U.S. is an enemy. Yet Jiang has to watch his back: hard-line Premier Li Peng still has influence and supporters whom Jiang has to placate. But he has clearly proved himself a capable wheeler-dealer with one great advantage in China. "He is an opportunist," says a Chinese political scientist in Beijing, "because he is bereft of any ideological belief and ready to embrace any ideas that suit him." That talent will undoubtedly come in handy as the very new face of communist China visits the headquarters of the capitalist West for the first time.
--Reported by Sandra Burton/Hong Kong, Dean Fischer/Washington, Jaime A. FlorCruz and Mia Turner/Beijing and Nelly Sindayen/Manila