Xi Jinping Recieves next to last Promotion

Followers of Chinese politics will not be surprised to hear that Xi Jinping (习近平), a current member of the CPC Central Committee and a member of the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) central committee received his next to last promotion today, a nod from the 17th Plenary of the CPC to take on an additional role as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission.

Xi Jinping (习近平）

Why is this his penultimate promotion you ask?  Because from here there is nowhere to go but up.  Deng Xiaoping, before stepping down as leader of China in the early 1990s,  made sure to hold onto one position, Chairman of the Central Military Commission.  As the great Mao Zedong said, “Power grows from the barrell of the gun” and this move helped Deng to continue influencing power after ceding the CPC Chairman (like the U.S. President) position to Jiang Zemin.  It was only after several years in power that Jiang Zemin was able to wrest this military commission chairmanship from Deng.  Ever since, the last committee future CPC Chairmen are nominated to by the CPC is that vice-Chairman of the Central Military Commission.  Then, when formally taking on the CPC Chairman position, they also are nominated to be the Central Military Commission’s Chairman.

Last year there was a bit of speculation when Xi Jinping, expected by everyone to be nominated to the Central Military Commission during last year’s CPC plenary, went home somewhat empty handed.  Does Hu Jintao, the current CPC Chairman and CMC Chairman, want to hold onto some power after retirement?  We’ll see; delaying the rise of Xi Jinping to the Central Military Commission might allow Hu Jintao to remain on in that position through 1-2 years of a Xi Jinping Chairmanship, keeping Xi Jinping from consolidating his own power within the Chinese Communist Party.  Xi Jinping is now expected to take the reigns of power from Hu Jintao in 2013.  One of my colleagues pointed out that another indication a change of leadership is coming is that in the official Chinese media, there are an increasing number of newspaper articles that offer direct quotes from Xi Jinping, something generally reserved only for the highest leaders.

One of the big changes in Chinese politics, which is not all that obvious since Chinese politics is rather opaque, is that new leaders like Xi Jinping are now being chosen more by consensus from within the Communist Party of China.  Mao Zedong “annointed” Hua Guofeng his successor, Deng Xiaoping then nominated Jiang Zemin, etc., but now there seems to be some amount democratic consensus at work within the party in choosing the next Chinese leader.  Enough intrigue for one day?

Here is what the Economist had to say this week: China’s Succession: The Next Emporer

Update to the Azerbaijan Story that never Was

As many of you know, my planned trip to Azerbaijan was foiled last week when Azerbaijan abruptly changed their visa policy mid-flight.  My brother has the latest info here:

Your Visa has Not Been Granted

Apparently it was a royal intra-agency kerfuffle that caused the overnight change that left over 50 Americans stranded at the Baku Airport.  Aaron also has a good update on the current state of Elections in Azerbaijan, what we thought was the original cause for the visa policy change.

With that in mind, no matter what your leanings, be sure to vote next Tuesday in the mid-term elections.  Sometimes we forget just how important it is to take that time out of our day every few years to participate in the great exercise of Democracy.  Even if you go to your polling place and cast a blank ballot; we should exercise the right those before us struggled to gain. I can tell you that almost nothing leaves a deeper impression on people overseas than Americans stepping up and actively participating in governance.

Let your voice be heard!

Hawthorn Crisp

糖葫芦，Hawthorn Kebab

Over the past few weeks, small, red, crab-apple looking fruit has been showing up at the fruit markets.  In China, this means that fall is coming to an end and winter is coming.  The fruit is Hawthorn, 山楂 shan(1)zha(2), sometimes shortened here to Haw.  The Hawthorn berry is believed to be good for the heart and circulation, acting as a natural blood thinner and improving blood vessel health.  In China, the most common use is 糖葫芦 tang(2)hu(1)lu(2), a haw kebab as it were, dipped in hard candy syrup, cooled, and then sold on the street in a colorful display.  As a perennial favorite of Chinese children, especially in the north of the country, many Chinese people have a great fondness for the Hawthorn berry.

Aside from my general interest in eating the Haw Kebabs, my interest in these small red fruits this year was doubly inspired by a movie that recently came out called 山楂树之恋, or Love Under the Hawthorn Tree.  Directed by Zhang YiMou, who also directed the Olympic opening ceremony, it tells the story of a young couple’s trials and tribulations as they try to build a relationship during, and right after, the Cultural Revolution in the late 1970s and early 1980′s in China.  Throughout the movie, the story of a hawthorn tree, high up on a mountain, that soaked up the blood of revolutionary heroes and now blooms red instead of white flowers every spring is reiterated again and again.  Though the story was a bit disjointed in parts due to the need to cut the film down to a reasonable time line, it was a very good movie and gives some good perspective into what the Cultural Revolution might have meant for ordinary people.

Hawthorn Berries

Last night, inspired by the movie and a pastry I saw in a bakery, I bought apound of Hawthorn berries.  I’m not a candy maker and really have no idea how to make hard candy, so I started looking up other recipes on the internet.  Aside from jellies, jams, syrups, and alcohol, however, I really could not find anything.  The Hawthorn flavor is tart, sort of like rhubarb, so along that line of thinking, I decided to go for Hawthorn Crisp based of a Rhubarb Crisp recipe.  It was quite the process.  The Hawthorn berry has 5 large seeds that need to be removed…so I had to figure out how to do that first.  A laser-light pointer came in handy as I took off the bottom and used it to core the Haw.

The Coring is Done

The rhubarb crisp recipe seems to have adapted well to the Haw.  I’ll be hosting Sunday brunch later today where it will get its first real test.  If it gets good reviews, there may be a whole round of Haw experimentation.

Hawthorn Crisp