Editing Hu Jintao (section)

==Rise to power==
[[File:Hu Jintao during a defense meeting held at the Pentagon, May 2002, cropped.jpg|thumb|Hu Jintao during a defense meeting held at [[the Pentagon]], May 2002]]
Before the opening of the [[14th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|14th National Congress of the CCP]] in 1992, senior party leaders, including Deng and [[Chen Yun]], were to select candidates for the [[Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP Politburo Standing Committee]] (PSC) to ensure a smooth transition of power from the so-called second-generation leaders (Deng, Chen, [[Li Xiannian]], [[Wang Zhen (general)|Wang Zhen]], etc.) to third-generation leaders ([[Jiang Zemin]], [[Li Peng]], [[Qiao Shi]] etc.). Deng also proposed considering another candidate for a further future transition, preferably someone under fifty to represent the next generation of leaders.<ref>Nathan & Gilley, pp.42-43</ref> Song Ping, as the organization chief, recommended Hu as an ideal candidate for the prospect of a future leader. As a result, shortly before his 50th birthday, Hu Jintao became the youngest (aged 49 in October 1992) member of the seven-member Politburo Standing Committee, and one of the youngest PSC members since the Communist Party assumed power in 1949.

In 1992, Hu became leading member of the [[Secretariat of the Chinese Communist Party]], which oversaw day-to-day operations of the [[Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party|CCP Central Committee]], and the Central Party School, which was convenient for him to bring up his own supporters among senior CCP cadres. Hu was also put in charge of the ideological work of the CCP. Although Hu was considered heir apparent to Jiang, he always took great care to ensure that Jiang be at the center of the spotlight. In late 1998, Hu promoted Jiang's unpopular movement of the "[[Three Stresses campaign|Three Stresses]]"{{spaced ndash}}"stress study, stress politics, and stress healthy trends"{{spaced ndash}}giving speeches to promote it. In 2001, he publicized Jiang's [[Three Represents]] theory, which Jiang hoped to place himself on the same level as other [[Marxist]] theoreticians.<ref>Nathan & Gilley, p. 84</ref> In 1998, Hu became vice president, and Jiang wanted Hu to play a more active role in foreign affairs. Hu became China's leading voice during the [[United States bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade]] in 1999.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2003-05-25/14421097103.shtml |language=zh-cn |script-title=zh:资料：1999年5月9日胡锦涛就我驻南使馆遭袭击发表讲话 |trans-title=Source: Hu Jintao delivered a speech on the attack on the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia on May 9, 1999 |publisher=[[Sina Corp]] |access-date=24 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190124203424/http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2003-05-25/14421097103.shtml|archive-date=24 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>