Hu Jintao firmly in-charge of Tibet issue: WikiLeaks

True democracy prevails in China's Communist party Politburo which is more keen on consensus than decrees on all issues except for the Dalai Lama and Tibet, the subject on which president Hu Jintao is "firmly in charge", a US diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks says.

The cable released by WikiLeaks and published by German magazine Der Spiegel says US diplomatic sources in Beijing believe "true democracy" prevails in the Politburo of the ruling Communist party, within the little-known group of top apparatchiks consisting of 24 men and one woman.

No one outside China's ruling cadre knows who at the top of China's power structure decides what and why. No one knows who thinks what, who is allied with whom and who really has influence. Public debates are rare, the magazine quoted the cable as saying.

Hardly any decisions, no matter how sensitive they might be, are decreed by head of state Hu Jintao or head of government Wen Jiabao.

Decisions instead tend to be taken collectively by top Communist party functionaries. When vital policy issues, such as relations with Taiwan or North Korea, are up for decision, all 25 Politburo members are involved. Lesser issues are resolved by the nine-member standing committee, it said.

The committee, though, does not decide by vote, according to cables sent from US diplomats back to Washington. Instead, issues are weighed up and discussed for as long as it takes to arrive at a consensus.

In the decision making process, to be sure, Hu Jintao's "views carry the greatest weight," US diplomats quote a source with access to the inner power circle as saying.

"It is a consensus system," the source said, "in which members can exercise veto power."

It is a system that ensures that none of the Communist party functionaries becomes too powerful.

But, US diplomats have been told, that doesn't apply to one particularly touchy issue: that of the Dalai Lama and Tibet. On that subject, China's president and Communist party general secretary Hu Jintao "is firmly in charge."

In Hu's eyes, the Dalai Lama is a traitor and a separatist. Those who would prefer a milder approach on the India-based exiled Tibetan leader risk their careers, US diplomats have been told.