General, Close Deng Ally, Elected President of China

The national legislature today elected China’s most powerful general, Yang Shangkun, president in one-candidate balloting that was open for the first time to foreign reporters.

Yang’s election puts a close ally of senior leader Deng Xiaoping and staunch supporter of Deng’s economic reforms in the largely ceremonial but highly visible post.

The 84-year-old Deng remains chairman of the Central Military Commission, his only government post. Like Yang, Deng was the only choice for the post in voting among 2,883 delegates of the National People’s Congress.

The legislature also elected Wan Li, who had been vice premier, to head the congress’s standing committee, which is responsible for legislative matters in between the full legislature’s once-a-year sessions.

The National People’s Congress, which has been meeting since March 25, is scheduled to elect the premier on Saturday and vice premiers on Tuesday.

Li Peng has been acting premier since November and is expected to be confirmed in that post.

Foreign reporters watched from a balcony in the Great Hall of the People as the congress delegates, minus 87 who were said to “have other business,” marked large orange, red and yellow ballots and dropped them in boxes.

In a touch of democracy, 144 candidates were listed for the 135 seats on the standing committee. Delegates also were told they could write in other names if they did not like the 144 choices.

Also for the first time, legislators could mark their ballots in secret in enclosed areas in the rear of the hall. Most delegates, however, remained in their seats.