Hu Jintao likely to remain military chief, says Tung Chee-hwa
Former chief executive hints that outgoing party chief will follow practice of Jiang Zemin and stay on as chairman of CMC after congress
President Hu Jintao is likely to remain chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC) after this year's Communist Party congress, which will see China's new leadership team named, former Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa said.
Tung, a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation, told CNN on Tuesday that Hu may follow the practice of his predecessor, Jiang Zemin , and continue to head the military after stepping down as party chief at its 18th national congress.
"I'm not privy to this information - based on past practice he will retain the position for some time," Tung told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an interview.
He also had "no doubt whatsoever" that Vice-President Xi Jinping would be China's next leader, and that the party congress would "happen sometime in October". As to Xi's two-week disappearance this month, which triggered concerns over whether the once-in-a-decade leadership transition would proceed smoothly, Tung said he merely suffered a back injury while swimming.
"He [Xi] hurt himself in sport, and he's now recovered and he's now back at work," Tung said.
