CHINA: Last November, a select group of middle-aged Chinese men gathered in Beijing to pick the next generation of China's leaders. The week-long, behind-closed-doors process to appoint nine men to the ruling Chinese Communist Party's Politburo ended a long, complex struggle for power.
The world has had little insight up to now into this power game, or the men who emerged victorious from it. This book, by China experts Bruce Gilley and Andrew J. Nathan, provides for the first time a fascinating glimpse into the secret world of the Chinese Communist Party.
Based on a remarkable Chinese language book, Disidai, China's New Rulers reveals the backgrounds of the men who will rule China for the next five years and gives details of other key figures in the Party and the military.
Disidai, or The Fourth Generation, was written by a Communist party insider using the pseudonym Zong Hairen. He authorised Gilley and Nathan to present the main findings of his book in English.
The book outlines details of formal and informal remarks made by the new leaders and delivered confidentially within party circles during the past couple of years. We get an insight into the leaders' views on a wide range of issues such as Sino-US relations, the plight of workers and farmers following China's entry into the World Trade Organisation, and how party rule can be sustained.
The new nine-member standing committee of the Chinese Communist Party politburo includes president-designate Hu Jintao, long-time economic policy maker Wu Bangguo, the incoming premier Wen Jiabao, rising political heavyweight Zeng Qinghiong, and internal security chief Luo Gan.
The ascent of these men to the highest levels of power did not happen overnight. It was carefully planned and plotted, and the aim of the Party was to have a smooth transition from the old to the new.
Several of the nine politburo members are profiled in depth. They all appear to have no doubt about China's rising global status, which they are determined to maintain through good relations with the US, and widening diplomatic relations with Europe and Russia.
Through the book we also learn that some politburo members recognise the failings of party rule, and the popular discontent over it. But they are confident that they can win support and co-opt or crush any rising opposition. There is an acknowledgement of income inequalities and the need to do more to protect the environment. Those in charge of China's economic future - especially premier designate Wen Jiabao - talk about their plans to address the helter-skelter market transition of the past two decades, with more emphasis on growth based on rising domestic demand, and less on growth resulting from exports.
It is clear from the book that none of the new leaders wants to compromise the Communist Party's monopoly on power. Like their predecessors, the Fourth Generation of leaders believe the key to China's continued social and political stability is rapid economic growth. But there is a recognition that raising the people's standard of living is a basic starting point for various projects.
China's New Rulers provides detail on the most contentious issue of the recent succession race, which was the failure of Politburo standing-committee member and liberal, Li Ruihuan, to gain re election. It outlines how the outgoing Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, engineered his removal.
The departure of Li, a prominent supporter of president-designate, Hu Jintao, is likely to weaken Hu's overall control of the new leadership. And the removal of Li will reduce prospects for political liberalisation in China, say the authors. There is a separate chapter dealing with president Jiang who was in office for 13 years. Despite speculation that he would stay on, this was never the subject of serious consideration by the Party elite.
The book is well written and manages to shed light on the Chinese power structure and to give a straightforward account of the group of men who will be responsible for controlling the lives of 1.2 billion people over the next five years.
• Miriam Donohoe is a former Asia Correspondent of The Irish Times and is currently deputy news editor of the paper
China's New Rulers: The Secret Files. By Andrew J NAthan and Bruce Gilley. Granta Books, 237pp. £14.99