Get behind Jiang, party cadres told

Jiang appears to be gaining the upper hand in factional infighting

(CNN) -- The Chinese Communist Party's top disciplinary official has called on cadres to improve "political discipline" in line with the teachings of President Jiang Zemin.

Head of the party's Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI), Wei Jianxing said while touring the Xinjiang region that party members should "self-consciously maintain a high degree of unison with party central authorities with comrade Jiang Zemin as its core."

"We must wage a resolute struggle against all actions that are against the political discipline of the party," official Beijing papers on Wednesday quoted Wei as saying.

Party analysts in Beijing said since Wei's main job was fighting corruption, it was rare for the senior Politburo member to lay so much emphasis on political discipline and correctness.

The analysts said Wei's giving of top billing to Jiang's teachings could be an indication the president was gaining an upper hand in factional infighting in the run-up to the 16th party Congress slated for early November.

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It is understood that Jiang, who wants to preserve his predominant role beyond the 16th congress, is unhappy with criticism against himself and his faction coming from non-mainstream cliques in the party.

Elements including senior cadres as well as "Maoist" ideologues have slammed Jiang for trying to build a personality cult around himself.

Wei's talk was seen as an effort by Jiang to ensure that party cadres and members must remain politically correct, that is, supportive of Jiang.

Meanwhile, there is growing evidence that corruption-related legal procedures are being used as weapons in on-going factional struggles.

For example, Zhu Xiaohua, a former chief of the Hong Kong-based Everbright Corp. was put on trial earlier this week for allegedly having pocketed several million yuan.

Since Zhu, a former protege of Premier Zhu Rongji, had been subject to CCDI and police investigations since 1999, the timing of his trial was seen as indicative of the rivalry between Jiang and Zhu.

Another Zhu protégé, former president of the Bank of China Wang Xuebing, is due to be put on trial shortly.