China reacts to Milosevic trial

Slobodan Milosevic awaits trial in a Dutch prison

By Willy Wo-lap Lam
Senior China Analyst

(CNN) -- Chinese leaders have reacted to the trial of former Yugoslav dictator Slobodan Milosevic by underscoring the imperative of one-party dictatorship in China.

The unprecedented trial of a former head of state at the United Nations court in the Hague was taken up at a meeting of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo members and their aides a few days ago.

President Jiang Zemin and his Politburo colleagues raised fears that the trial would set a precedent for "neo-hegemonist powers," usually a reference to the United States and its allies, to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries.

Beijing has consistently supported the Milosevic regime, which, it believes, would still have been in power had it not been for the machinations of the U.S. in elections in Yugoslavia last year.

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A party source in Beijing said National People's Congress Chairman Li Peng expressed worries at the high-level meeting that "hostile foreign powers" might interfere in Chinese affairs using the pretext of "international humanitarianism overriding national boundaries."

"The Milosevic incident is a timely reminder to us [Chinese leadership] that no matter what happens, the Chinese Communist Party must always have a firm grip on power," Li reportedly said.

The parliament head added that Beijing must guard against Western-style political reforms, which would cut into the party's power and give anti-Chinese forces abroad an opening.

Controlling the army

Jiang, also chairman of the Central Military Commission, pointed out at the meeting that the party must never lose control over the army.

"We must maintain the long-term tradition of the army being under the absolute leadership of party authorities," Jiang said.

Another Politburo member pointed out one reason why Saddam Hussein was still in power despite the anti-Iraq actions of the West was his ironclad control over military and intelligence forces in the country.

Most Politburo members agreed with Li's argument that late patriarch Deng Xiaoping made the right decision to crush the pro-democracy movement in 1989.

"Treacherous international developments have made it clear we must always be as tough as comrade Xiaoping in cracking down on dissent," Li reportedly said.

In internal discussions, Jiang has indicated that relatively liberal political reform programs suggested by his own think-tank members must be shelved or killed in light of new global developments.