Two potentially explosive issues await Luo Gan, 67, the oldest member of the new Standing Committee of the Politburo.
As secretary of the central political and legal committee, Mr Luo will play a key role in deciding how to handle allegations of corruption surrounding family and friends of retiring National People's Congress chief Li Peng.
He will also have to decide whether the party should take a second look at the brutal 1989 military crackdown on pro-democracy student protests in Tiananmen Square. However, based on Mr Luo's past, it would appear unlikely he will pursue either issue with much vigour.
He is a loyal backer of Mr Li, and is known to be a trusted trouble-shooter for the departing second-ranked leader in the party hierarchy. The two worked together to co-ordinate China's police and intelligence agencies during and after the democracy movement 1989 crackdown.
Mr Li has long feared that he would be vulnerable after stepping down next year at the National People's Congress. He was the public face of the party during the Tiananmen Square massacre and any re-examination of the event would put him in a perilous position. The allegations of corruption involving Mr Li's family and associates would also leave him open to harsh treatment.
To protect himself, Mr Li has groomed Mr Luo to be his man in the Politburo Standing Committee. But the fact that Mr Luo, backed by Mr Li, failed to become the secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, indicates his mentor's influence has been waning.