Former premier Zhu Rongji’s new book detailing his years in office created a media stir and strong reader interest when it went on sale early this month.

But the man himself was nowhere to be seen.

There were no book tours and media interviews and Zhu, 83, did not make a public appearance to promote his massive three-volume tome, which contains almost 350 speeches and letters.

The no-show was, in many ways, in keeping with the unwritten code of conduct for the Chinese Communist Party’s retired leaders. Once they have stepped down, they should be rarely seen and seldom heard of.

While many global leaders hit the lucrative lecture circuits and travel widely ― at times as special envoys or elder statesmen ― after leaving political office, top Chinese politicians pretty much disappear from the public eye once they retire.

This is made possible by two well-known rules governing the conduct of retired senior CCP cadres.

First, state media such as Xinhua news agency and China Central Television do not report their visits to cities and provinces, although local provincial media outlets are allowed to give short mentions.

Second, barring a special dispensation by the current leadership, retired leaders are not allowed to travel abroad.

Former vice-premier Li Lanqing’s visit to Singapore in 2006, for example, was a rare instance of a retired Chinese leader given permission to go abroad.

Li was invited by former Singapore prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, and it was believed that the trip was approved by Beijing because of Lee’s close ties to the Chinese leader.

Such travel bans are useful, according to veteran China watcher June Teufel Dreyer from the University of Miami.

“The party and government don’t want current policy decisions questioned by people no longer responsible for the consequences of their opinions. It also eliminates the possibility of the designated leader being upstaged by his predecessor,” she said.

That is not to say that the retired leaders are completely gagged. They still speak to the media sporadically, albeit usually on non-political topics such as their hobbies during their retirement.

Former top political adviser Li Ruihuan, who is an avid fan of Peking opera, has waxed lyrical about keeping this performing art relevant and alive. Li Lanqing likes to talk about his traditional seal carvings, which have been exhibited.

In recent years, several retired leaders have published books, but again, they have largely shied away from the sort of tell-all tales that many would expect to read in books by former politicians in the West.

The “memoirs” of a Chinese leader usually revolve around his pet project or topic such as that of former premier Li Peng, which was devoted mainly to the Three Gorges Dam project that he championed.

When a book touches on politics, it more often than not merely recaptures earlier records of what the leader had said.

Zhu’s two books ― the first was published in 2009 ― contain transcripts of his press conferences, his speeches and his letters.

Most Chinese see these retired leaders only during major events like party anniversaries and National Days, when the airtime or exposure for each is carefully calibrated based on their seniority and their last-held positions.

“The idea seems to be that these retirees don’t want to be seen as interfering in the work of current leaders,” said Hong Kong-based analyst Willy Lam.

And while no one is under any illusion that the retirees, particularly former president Jiang Zemin, still seek to manipulate from behind the scenes through allies and proxies, their public invisibility is a welcome change for the CCP.

The practice is not vulnerable to the capriciousness of Mao Zedong’s lifetime tenure system and the skulduggery of Deng Xiaoping’s old man politics in the 1980s, marked by the creation of a formal political body called the Central Advisory Commission for the elders to meddle in governance.

But China’s current mode is still young. It effectively kicked in only after former strongman Jiang retired formally in 2004 and is not yet fully entrenched.

As China develops, its politics continues to evolve and so must its treatment of retired leaders, say analysts.

Among other changes, the retired leaders are getting younger.

When Jiang handed over the reins of the party in 2002, he was 76. President Hu Jintao will still be a sprightly 70-year-old when he steps down next autumn.

“China’s leaders are retiring at a younger age now. And with modern science and better health care, they are also living longer. There could be room for them to play some role,” said Bo Zhiyue from Singapore’s East Asian Institute.

“They could go to nongovernment organizations, obtain some funding and contribute to the society with their wealth of experience and contacts.”

By Peh Shing Huei

Peh Shing Huei is the China bureau chief of the Straits Times. ― Ed.

(The Straits Times/Asia News Network)