HONG KONG -- Since it is not opening up to the outside world, but remains a very closed society in terms of its internal politics, China raises more questions than it answers. The latest intriguing episode concerns the bugging of a Boeing 767-300ER purchased in 2000 to be the VIP jet for President Jiang Zemin and Vice President Hu Jintao.
This mysterious episode indicates that there may be some bumps in the road before the CCP's fourth generation can assume power, as predicted, at the 16th Party Congress in Beijing in October.
Only one certainty emerges from the tale that has been told so far, in leaks from Chinese sources to the Financial Times of London and The Washington Post: The once-respected practice of China-watching is very rusty.