Beijing begins the big political reshuffle
New tsars named to oversee personnel matters and public security as political shake-up filters through the party and government ranks
Beijing has announced new appointments to the top party posts overseeing personnel matters and public security, marking the start of a sweeping reshuffle of senior party and government officials after the unveiling of the party's new leadership line-up last week.
In the first top-level reshuffle since the Communist Party's 18th national congress, which ushered in a new generation of party leaders, Shaanxi party chief Zhao Leji, 55, a rising star who was elevated to the Politburo last week, has replaced Li Yuanchao as head of the party's powerful Organisation Department.
Yesterday's brief Xinhua dispatch did not identify Li's new portfolio. Li, 62, a protégé of the soon-to-retire President Hu Jintao , lost his bid for a seat on the party's Politburo Standing Committee, the apex of power. But he has been widely tipped to instead become vice-president in March. In that post he is likely to oversee Hong Kong and Macau affairs.
In another widely expected announcement, public security minister Meng Jianzhu, 65, became the country's new security tsar, taking over from the former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang .
Analysts said Zhou's replacement by Meng, a newcomer to the 25-strong Politburo, effectively signalled the downgrading of the party's Political and Legal Affairs Commission, which oversees the mainland's judiciary, prosecutors and police, and had become extremely powerful under Zhou.
