BEIJING—Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday was looking like one of the world’s strongest leaders, but questions still remain about where he wants to take China and his 1.3 billion compatriots, analysts said.After taking over the chairmanship of the Central Military Commission from Jiang Zemin on Sunday, Hu was left holding the three most important positions in the country. He became Communist Party secretary general in 2002 and president in 2003.Hu, 61, now appears to have a free hand to push his own agenda—if he has one.“Hu Jintao has so far been hiding his cards well,” said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a China expert at the French National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. “Now the moment has come when he may unveil his intentions.”In the past two years while he was still lingering in the shadows of predecessor Jiang, Hu had given only scattered hints of what he wanted to do with his continent-sized country.Assistance to the hundreds of millions who have been left behind by the breakneck economic reforms of the past two decades—especially the people left in the desperately poor countryside—appears to be one of his priorities.The real issue, however, is what Hu can realistically do in a political system crowded with influential people who were appointed by Jiang and maintain strong loyalties to him.Tackling corruption could be a magic bullet, providing Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao with a cause of great concern to the Chinese people, while giving him leverage over Jiang’s allies at the elite level, analysts said.“Hu and Wen of course are going to want to crack some major cases, to demonstrate their determination to fight corruption and gain the support of the people,” said Joseph Cheng, a China watcher at Hong Kong’s City University. “We are seeing this happen.”One stark example came at the end of the communist party meeting that elevated Hu to the chairmanship of the Central Military Commission.Tian Fengshan, the former minister of land and natural resources, was expelled from the party’s central committee for taking five million yuan ($603,000) in bribes.But the antigraft campaign is a weapon to be wielded with great care, analysts warned.“Hu could use the crackdown on corruption to try to dislodge Jiang’s backers, but at the same time he doesn’t want to upset the apple cart,” said Paul Harris, a China expert at Hong Kong’s Lingnan University.“I suspect he won’t want to do that, at least right away. If you do that, you make more enemies. [But] the tool is there,” he said.Another and less explosive cause embraced by Hu is party reform, entailing the possible introduction of more checks and balances and the recruitment of better educated and more morally upright new leaders.“It’s well-known that Hu is in favor of internal democratization inside the party, but the party forms an elite, and it won’t have an impact on society as a whole,” said Cabestan. “The question is if he will engage in broader political reform.”Social critics tend to be cynical about what it all means for the mass majority of Chinese who are not particularly well off and not members of the party.“The difference in leadership will be very small and technical in nature,” said Liu Xiaobo, a leading political activist.“They will talk about concern for social problems and express concern for the weaker aspects of society, but in reality they will not come out with any detailed programs,” he said.-- AFP