Why is hu jintao famous

Hu Jintao was given some credit for tentatively and cautiously opening up the government. Legislative meetings were still largely scripted, debates sharply limited and decisions rubber stamped yet there was some mingling between regional representatives and Beijing officials and local concerns were at least discussed. In Hu advised the Chinese Communist Party not to focus solely on economic growth and instead integrate social and environmental factors into decision making. Hu also took a number of high profile trips to the poorer areas of China as well as made the minutes of the Politburo Standing Committee meetings public.

More than , troops and 1. In Mar. The Tibetan protests also led international supporters of Tibetan autonomy or independence to use world events associated with the Beijing summer Olympics to demonstrate against Chinese rule in Tibet. Centered on N central Sichuan prov. Some 18, people were listed as missing, and more than , were injured.

The disaster was notable for the largely uncensored media coverage it initially received in China, but after several weeks coverage was limited and public displays of mourning were suppressed by the police. In July, , a Uigur protest in Urumqi, Xinjiang, led to deadly anti-Chinese rioting and then anti-Uigur rioting by Chinese; hundreds were arrested, and the government sent troops into the city to reestablish control there.

Xinjiang continued to be the site of recurring ethnic unrest in subsequent years. Under Hu Jintao, China was firmly committed to economic reform and opening to the outside world.

The Chinese leadership identified reform of state industries and the establishment of a social safety net as government priorities. Government strategies for achieving these goals included large-scale privatization of unprofitable state-owned enterprises and development of a pension system for workers.

The leadership had also downsized the government bureaucracy. Continuing vigorous economic growth in led the government to put in place a series of measures designed to slow growth to control inflation and reduce overinvestment.

In the government became increasingly concerned with the disparity between richer urban and poorer rural China, which had become even more marked since the turn of the century and sparked a growing number of sometimes violent demonstrations.

Shanghai's local Communist party leader, who was also a member of the politburo, was dismissed in Sept. In November , the Chinese government announced a major economic stimulus package, including infrastructure investments, in response to the global financial crisis and economic downturn that began in and slowed the growth rate of the export-driven Chinese economy. That helped reverse the slowdown significantly as progressed, and the economy grew by 8. At the same tine, however, such spending also led as had instances of lavish government spending earlier in the decade to expenditures on new residential and business districts that were significantly underutilized.

By mid robust growth led the government to impose restrictions on property sales in an attempt to prevent a speculative bubble, and interest rates and bank-reserves requirements were increased during the year. A World Trade Organization decision that China had violated trade rules in a case by restricting sales of magnesium and other raw materials led to renewed criticism of China's export limits on rare earths, and in the WTO concluded that those limits were also a violation.

The Chinese government continued its efforts to battle inflation during , but slower growth in the latter half of the year led to the easing of some of those efforts at the end of ; growth slowed further in subsequent years. Hu made—building a harmonious society—a reference to spreading the wealth from the haves to have nots and correcting the injustices of Chinese society and combating widespread corruption—a top priority. How serious and successful he was had not yet been determined.

In the hinterlands the Communist Party had done little to respond to injustices See Protests and Demonstrations, Government. Many were not exactly sure what all this means but some think it was a green light to some forms of dissent that allow citizens to let off steam. The Hu government had held public hearings on some controversial matters, allowed more freedom of the press and expression on the Internet and refused to wield a heavy hand when protests break out in part to let people vent their frustrations while the government maintains a firm grip on power.

In step with his plan to make China a more harmonious place and combat greed and corruption. In a New Year speech in , Hu said he was committed ending the gap between the rich and poor, and cleaning up the environment.

By then there had been a shift in focus in policy with the government saying that it was just as responsible for improving the quality of life as it was for deliver economic growth. In response to increasing discontent over income disparities, land seizures and other problems the government increased spending on education and health in rural areas. His pursuit of harmony and peaceful rise contradict Marxist ideas like class struggle and revolution Although he seems committed on keeping Communist and Maoist structures in place he seems bent in making them more humane.

Many of Hu's action seem to have been in line with the maxim that stability and stamping out threats to the party were hsu primary duties. This statements said much about what he expected in China. Hu and his family have not been untainted by allegations of corruption and nepotism. The company, Nutech, won a deal to provide scanners that detect liquid explosives for airports throughout China.

The deal was expected to have been worth tens of millions of dollars. Instead of launching political reforms, he tried to use the Chinese model of "crony capitalism" to compete with the Western democratic system. And the state of human rights in China took a huge step backward. My own experience serves as proof.

During the Jiang Zemin era from to , I participated in many human rights activities, such as running the Independent Chinese Pen Center with Liu Xiaobo and sending out open letters, including one suggesting changing Mao's mausoleum into a museum about the Cultural Revolution. Secret police trailed me and tapped my phone, but they did so quietly, and with a sense of integrity.

Consider, for one, these reviews. From The Heritage's Derek Scissors : "lost opportunity, even failure". The South China Morning Post : "ossification and stagnation". Hong Kong-based professor David Zweig : "a weak leader" who "missed opportunities". Tough crowd! But the question is legitimate: are criticisms of Hu's record unfair, owing to unreasonable expectations, or does his presidency truly represent a "lost decade" for China?

Here are some reasons why the Hu years may not be remembered quite so fondly: Environmental Problems China had a pollution problem prior to Hu's arrival, but without a doubt these issues have become far more serious in recent years. Beijing's blackened skies get most of the attention, but groundwater pollution, soil erosion, desertification, and river contamination have also produced their share of headlines.

In fairness to Hu, China made green issues a government priority for the first time and invested heavily in clean energy during his tenure. But the grim problems speak for themselves. Income Inequality As impressive as China's economic growth has been, income inequality has emerged as a major threat to the country's social fabric, creating a society of haves and have-nots that is getting worse before it gets better.

Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all find out similar things? Include an imaginary interview with him. Write about what he does every day and what he thinks about. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson.

Give each other feedback on your articles. Ask him three questions about his life. Give him three suggestions on what he should do in his future. Read your letter to your partner s in your next lesson. I also have thousands of other lessons on my other websites. Tweet This Lesson. It made China a truly wealthy and significant country, saw off the threats of the economic crisis in , and managed to build up national esteem and importance.

The political elite remained unified enough to see through a tricky leadership change, despite needing to sacrifice one of their members - Bo Xilai. Mr Hu was able to create consensus over this period and to maintain the Party's privileged place in society. Mr Hu and Mr Wen were also able to maintain growth over this period in ways which were indisputable and visible. China is now four times larger as an economy than it was in It has risen on almost every major indicator. It is an economic superpower, whatever its geopolitical status.

Those who travel through China today see a country almost awash with activity, from infrastructure to housing, to rising car usage, to the emergence of a middle class in the main cities as consumption-driven as anywhere else on the planet.

Mr Hu and Mr Wen also presided over an era of crises which they were able to manage and contain. They dealt with the snow storms of early , the impact of the collapse of exports in , the uprisings in Tibet and Xinjiang in and respectively, and the scandal around the fall of Bo Xilai and his wife in