Hu Jintao: New focus

Beijing, March 6 (Reuters): Mao Zedong preached class struggle, Deng Xiaoping extolled the glory of getting rich and Jiang Zemin threw open the Communist Party to the capitalist entrepreneurs once considered China?s worst kind of sinners.

Now, a chorus is building in state media and at the current annual session of parliament backing the need for a ?harmonious society?, the latest policy slogan of the heir to Mao, Deng and Jiang ? President and party boss Hu Jintao.

The ?harmonious? soundbite is more than just another shibboleth in a steady stream of red propaganda, analysts say.

After years of emphasis on ?the haves? under previous party chief Jiang, and an economic boom that has created one of the world?s widest wealth gaps, Hu?s campaign takes aim directly at the concerns of the hundreds of millions left behind by the tide of rising prosperity.

Analysts say the campaign is also a tool Hu is using to push his agenda and further consolidate power in the shadow of Jiang, who has stacked the leadership with proteges and still wields considerable influence.

?Hu Jintao is shaping ideology to fit his particular political needs,? said Joseph Fewsmith, an expert on the Chinese leadership at Boston University.

?It?s all part of establishing the new leadership.?

Jiang is set to relinquish his last official post at the current parliament session, the largely symbolic chairmanship of the state Central Military Commission. Hu has already succeeded him as party boss, President and party military chief.

Like many past theories of China?s leaders, the ?harmonious society? is so vague it appears almost meaningless.

?A harmonious society features democracy, the rule of law, equity, justice, sincerity, amity and vitality,? the Xinhua news agency explained. The Communist Party mouthpiece People?s Daily tried to elucidate: ?The harmonious relation between human and nature, human and economy, human and society are the cores of creating harmonious society.?

Beneath the lofty ideals, however, the campaign?s expressions of concern over social tensions carry a serious, though implicit, criticism of the domestic situation Jiang left his successors, said a Chinese analyst. ?It means that now society is not harmonious.?

A yawning wealth gap and rampant corruption have spawned regular protests ? about 160 each day somewhere in China ? and a rising crime rate.