Beach is out, Hu Jintao won’t swim with tide

In what is officially cast as a money-saving move but is also seen as an intriguing public-relations gesture, newspapers have reported that the Beidaihe retreat is being called off this year. The reports are murky, noting that some older top officials may still visit the resort for ‘‘convalescence’’.

They say Hu, who is trying to cement control over the government in the face of a rivalry with his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, may avoid the sort of surreptitious machinations that have been a feature of Beidaihe retreat. ‘‘It’s not simply for image: It could have substantial policy significance,’’ said Dali Yang, a China expert at University of Chicago.

‘‘At Beidaihe, the informal setting gives more influence to elders than is generally the case in the more formal policy setting of Beijing,’’ said Yang. ‘‘I think it allows him to distance himself from Jiang.’’

That might be true, or it just may be that 60-year-old President Hu doesn’t like going to the beach, or perhaps is not a fan of the dances and karaoke sessions that reportedly occur amid the Beidaihe bungalows.

Hu is known as a technocrat and workaholic and and, so far has made little attempt to show a lighter side to the public. Some leaders may go to the beach anyway for a private vacation. But, especially with public anger still bubbling over the government’s initial handling of the SARS epidemic this year, Hu and his top aides simply might have concluded that an official retreat at the beach might not go over so well.

On state-run television, Hu and his premier, Wen Jiabao, have been shown hard at work and doing serious things, such as opening hospitals or visiting flood-damaged areas.

In another gesture seen at trying to bolster a man-of-the-people image, Hu has ordered a dramatic scaling-down of the ornate ceremonies that have marked the arrivals and departures of China’s leaders as they move about the country or go overseas. (LAT-WP)