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Chongqing papers print Zhang's CV

Bo Xilai

Chongqing residents are still gasping at its sudden change of leadership - with the resume of new party boss Zhang Dejiang appearing on the front page of major newspapers in the southwestern municipality yesterday.

The Chongqing Daily, Chongqing Evening News, and Chongqing Economic Times all ran Vice-Premier Zhang's resume after he was brought in to replace the controversial Bo Xilai, and ran big headlines about the meeting on Thursday chaired by central organisation department chief Li Yuanchao at which the switch was announced.

Chongqing television broadcast a municipal government meeting yesterday chaired by mayor Huang Qifan, which tried to convey a message of business-as-usual by passing legislation plans on livelihood issues such as public housing and schools. Huang, a trusted ally of Bo, said at Thursday's meeting he would support Zhang's leadership, although observers are still keeping a close eye on his political fate.

Chongqing residents, however, expressed mixed feelings about the abrupt leadership change yesterday.

Huang Zheng said he admired Bo for his unreserved devotion to the improvement of ordinary people's livelihoods, ranging from public order and tree-planting to environmental protection and the building of infrastructure.

'I guess his downfall resulted from his siding with the wrong faction in political struggles,' he said.

A middle-aged woman, Meng Bin, said: 'Those who served as our leaders yesterday have today stepped down, or even been placed under investigation. Things have changed in such a drastic way. It's all about political struggle.'

A police source who refused to be named said that all inscriptions or billboards with any mention of former police chief Wang Lijun had been either whitewashed or removed since early this month. Wang apparently attempted to defect at the US consulate in Chengdu, Sichuan, on February 6.

Many are also curious whether the red campaign championed by Bo, and which featured the singing of revolutionary songs, will continue under Zhang, who is known to be a conservative and received his university education in North Korea.

Others wonder whether Chongqing Satellite Television will be allowed to broadcast commercial advertisements again. Bo had banned them. All mainland newspapers were ordered to only use Xinhua's report. Some newspapers ran it as a headline on their front pages, but others, including the Guangdong-based Southern Metropolis Daily and Southern Daily did not mention Bo's fall on their front pages at all.

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