○Oo　๑۩۞۩ღ 一个人看了一场电影 ๑۩۞۩ღ　oO○

BEIJING, Oct. 4 — Just days away from a major leadership reshuffle, China’s Communist Party bosses remain deadlocked over who should sit on the ruling Politburo Standing Committee and who should be anointed to succeed President Hu Jintao as China’s No. 1 leader five years from now, party officials and political observers say.

The uncertainty has contributed to a tense political climate in Beijing, where worries about economic overheating and talk of military action to keep Taiwan from moving toward legal independence have complicated the ruling party’s already delicate internal succession process.

The Communist Party plans to convene a congress on Oct. 15 to ratify a slate of leaders who will serve under Mr. Hu through 2012. But party officials say Mr. Hu and his still-powerful predecessor, Jiang Zemin, have yet to reach a consensus on the leadership line-up.

Among the most significant questions that remain unanswered is whether Mr. Hu will succeed in forming a team that consists of people who owe their power mainly to him instead of to Mr. Jiang or other party elders.

The party elite also has failed to rally behind a younger leader to succeed Mr. Hu when his second term ends in 2012. If that does not change, Chinese politics could become more volatile in coming years, as interest groups form around rival contenders.

Horse trading ahead of the congress has colored almost everything Chinese leaders have done or said in recent weeks.

Top officials have issued fresh warnings that China may take military action if Chen Shui-bian, the president of Taiwan, follows through with his plan to hold a referendum on whether Taiwan should apply to join the United Nations under the name Taiwan rather than its legal name, Republic of China. Chinese leaders view the referendum as a backdoor attempt to sever Taiwan’s remaining ties to mainland China, which they claim would trigger a military response.

Party officials say that Mr. Hu intends to make Taiwan a focus of the upcoming congress. They say he may be seeking to garner support for using force if Mr. Chen does not back down. But he also may hope the Taiwan issue will unify the party around his leadership at a time when he faces political pressure from Mr. Jiang on domestic matters.

Arguably the most important function of the congress, the first in five years, will be to select someone to replace Mr. Hu. Two provincial party leaders, Li Keqiang, 52, the party secretary of Liaoning Province in northeastern China, and Xi Jinping, 54, the newly appointed party boss of Shanghai, are seen as contenders to join the Politburo Bureau Standing Committee and take over the most senior positions five years from now.

Mr. Li, viewed as Mr. Hu’s favorite, may now have to settle for second place behind Mr. Xi, who has stronger support from Mr. Jiang, said several people informed about the jockeying. They spoke on condition of anonymity because China treats all elite political maneuvering as a state secret.

One slate of candidates discussed among party leaders in recent days has Mr. Xi replacing Zeng Qinghong as vice president and head of the ruling party’s secretariat, the day-to-day manager of party affairs. Mr. Li would become executive vice premier.

Both would join the Politburo standing committee, with Mr. Xi outranking Mr. Li in the hierarchy by a slim — but potentially decisive — margin, putting him in line to succeed Mr. Hu as party chief. Mr. Li would stand to inherit the post of premier, now held by Wen Jiabao, in 2012.

The party chief generally assumes the additional titles of state president and head of the Central Military Commission. That would mean that Mr. Xi, a “princeling” whose father, Xi Zhongxun, was also a senior party official, would become the presumed future leader of China.

But these people cautioned that Mr. Hu had not endorsed Mr. Xi as his successor, leaving open the possibility that he could still mobilize support for Mr. Li or leave the designation of “fifth generation leader” — after Mao, Deng Xiaoping, Mr. Jiang and Mr. Hu — up in the air.

Some party officials suggest that this could open the door to a form of “intraparty democracy,” in which a bigger group of senior officials selects a candidate rather than affirming the choice of the top-most echelon.

China’s authoritarian system lacks a reliable way to pick future leaders. After Mao’s volatile rule, Deng Xiaoping overthrew Mao’s chosen successor and became the top boss himself. He then dismissed two chosen successors of his own before settling on Mr. Jiang and anointing Mr. Hu to succeed Mr. Jiang.

Neither Mr. Jiang nor Mr. Hu has sufficient clout to name a future leader single-handedly. But Mr. Jiang, who retired from his last official post, as military chief, in 2004, retains sufficient sway to effectively veto Mr. Hu’s choice. Party officials described Mr. Jiang, 80, as determined not to give Mr. Hu more say over his successor than Mr. Jiang had over the choice of Mr. Hu.

With the headline race undecided, competition to fill the other powerful slots on the Standing Committee has also run on longer than expected.

Mr. Hu once hoped to reduce the number of people who sit on the ruling body to seven from nine, making it easier to reach consensus on major policy matters. But Mr. Jiang increased the membership to nine from seven in 2002, partly so that he could stack the committee with his own loyalists. Party officials say he vetoed Mr. Hu’s proposal to slim down the body.

Deaths and mandatory retirements have opened at least three positions on the Standing Committee that Mr. Hu and Mr. Jiang have competing candidates to fill.

The fate of a fourth member, Mr. Zeng, has prompted speculation for months. Mr. Zeng is seen as the most powerful party leader after Mr. Hu. He controls the daily affairs of the ruling party. More informally, he heads what is referred to as the princeling faction, consisting of people who, like himself, are the children of first-generation party elite.

Mr. Zeng served as the right-hand man of Mr. Jiang for many years. But he also became indispensable to Mr. Hu over the past five years, party officials said. Mr. Zeng helped Mr. Hu to implement a political program that includes paying more attention to the country’s wealth gap, its rural poor and its degraded environment.

Mr. Zeng reached the formal retirement age of 68 this year, and party officials say he has stated repeatedly that he intends to step down.

But they say that Mr. Hu has sought to retain Mr. Zeng. This is partly because Mr. Hu’s grasp of the party’s internal workings remains incomplete, they say. Mr. Zeng’s departure would also increase the likelihood that two officials seen as core Jiang loyalists, Jia Qinglin, who heads the group that manages the party’s ties to other sectors of Chinese society, and Li Changchun, in charge of propaganda work, could retain their Standing Committee seats.

On the economic front, Mr. Wen has long been viewed as likely to continue as prime minister for another term. But he has recently come under attack within the party because he has failed to reduce economic growth to a more sustainable pace, party officials said.

Inflation, driven by surging food prices, has begun to create social discontent. China’s trade surplus has ballooned to record levels, sparking widespread international concerns about manipulation of its currency.

Party officials said Mr. Wen is still likely to retain his post, but that the volatility in the run-up to the congress makes his hold on power less secure.

Bebie : There are always some small pieces of fact in the same world seducing your tears.

JORDAN: “Honour” killings pose serious challenge to rule of law

Photo: Dana Hazeen/IRIN

According to police records, every year 20-25 women in Jordan are killed “in the name of honour”, that is, for having an illicit affair

AMMAN, 2 October 2007 (IRIN) - Omaima was disposed of within minutes of her birth on 4 September in a rubbish bin. The illegitimate baby, however, was saved thanks to a street cleaner who heard her screaming from her makeshift tomb.

The incident sent a shockwave throughout the conservative kingdom, with local papers dubbing Omaima "the rubbish bin girl". Sari Nasir, a sociologist at the University of Jordan, showed no surprise at the chain of events that led to this travesty. "Values are stronger than life in Jordan," he said.

According to police records, every year 20-25 women are killed “in the name of honour”, that is, for having an illicit affair. The killers, and conspirators, get away with murder, after spending a few months in prison.

At least nine women have been killed since the beginning of this year for “honour” reasons, usually resulting from an illicit relationship or adultery or even a suspicion of both, police records show.

In Jordan, any “honour” related incident, is veiled in secrecy and is usually brushed under the carpet before it grabs public attention. The victims are usually women involved, or suspected to be involved, in an affair.

“Honour” killings are technically illegal, but tradition and social pressure pose a serious challenge to the rule of law.

Media hype prompts action

But the media hype that surrounded Omaima's case prompted quick action from the authorities, who discovered that the drama involved Omaima's natural parents, her grandmother and two aunts.

Values are stronger than life in Jordan.

It is a classic story. A young man and woman from the middle class fall in love. The girl's family refuses to allow them to marry, leading to a clandestine relationship that leads to pregnancy. Abortion was out of the question, the mother told police during investigations. According to neighbours and the testimonies of the mother and grandmother, delivery took place in a quiet room in the family house, when all the men were away. The grandmother and two sisters of the mother helped in the delivery, ready to send the baby girl straight from womb to tomb.

For now, Omaima, who was named by social workers, lives in a care centre with other children who carry their own heart-wrenching stories. Her parents are to face charges of adultery, which carries a minimum sentence of five years, after the man confessed to his role in the affair. The only way to escape jail is for them to get married, said legal experts.

That is not all. Police also fear Omaima's mother could be killed after leaving prison. "It has happened before with other unmarried mothers or single women who elope and return, and it will happen again," said a police official who preferred anonymity.

Protective custody

Young women involved in relationships not sanctioned by their parents are normally kept in protective custody until their family pledges in an official document not to harm the girl.

Police records in Amman show that every year some 20-25 unmarried women involved in “honour” issues are held in protective custody. Most of these, police officials say, were killed hours or days after their release from custody.

Photo: Maria Font de Matas/IRIN

Children are often punished for the mother's guilt in an honour crime

Ironically, killers in the name of “honour” often get six months and a hero's welcome from relatives after they are free.

"Society punishes the baby [Omaima] for the mother's guilt," said Nasir. "The story of the baby is a demonstration of how far society is ready to go to protect its honour. This baby girl is an innocent being, but she ended up the most harmed thanks to archaic habits," said Nasir.

Omaima's grandmother was given a prison sentence for attempted murder, after confessing she took away the baby girl against her mother's wish and threw her to die in the rubbish.

"This is an attempted murder and must be dealt with in a tough manner. We must make an example of these people in order to deter others from taking similar action in future," said Hani Dahleh, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights.

In the past, “honour” crimes were handled discreetly. In some cases the offending women were killed and buried without the knowledge of the authorities.

Taboo issue

Social and religious groups have found a crack in the wall of silence surrounding this taboo issue. Rights activists have been campaigning for years in an attempt to persuade society that life is more important than “honour”. Pressure by local and international human rights groups led to the introduction of a draft amendment to the penal code, which included severe penalties for “honour” killers.

However, the bill was defeated by conservatives and Islamist members of parliament (MP), who said they feared it would destroy morals and encourage adultery.

It will be a very long time before there is a change in Jordan regarding `honour’ killings.

"It will be a very long time before there is a change in Jordan regarding `honour’ killings," said former MP Mahmoud Kharabsheh, from the conservative city of Salt. Kharabsheh was one of the MPs who lobbied against amending articles related to “honour” killings, because he feared the "harmful influence of Western culture on this nation".

Last week, a 90-year-old man from Abu Nusseir village, 30km west Amman, shot dead his 35-year-old daughter because neighbours saw a man leaving her house. The killer confessed he committed the crime to cleanse the family honour. The victim, Khitam, was divorced and lived with her two daughters and a son near her parent's house.

Rumours are enough to have a young woman killed.

In some cases, autopsies revealed that some victims were virgins, according to Mumen Hadidi, president of the Jordanian Society of Forensic Medicine, who often examines bodies of “honour” crime victims.

But this fact is rarely considered by a court. Dahleh says it is very difficult to separate law in Jordan from the strong grip of social rules.

"As far as the police and the court are concerned, suspicion of an illicit relationship is enough to make one commit an `honour’ crime," said Dahleh.