Who was the better leader for China after Deng Xiaoping?

[buritobr]

.

[Lord Halifax]

Hu. The other two were/are awful.

[2952-0-0]

Jiang. He became leader by accident after the Tiananmen Square crackdown, and steered China through some pretty turbulent times which easily could have gone pear-shaped.

Hu accomplished nothing big, and simply coasted along the cheap-labour-and-investment boom.

Xi is a big enigma. He's done so much to consolidate his power, but it's still unclear what exactly he wants to accomplish. But when you have his pictures in public places you know something's not right.

[Frodo]

Ever the optimist, I was hoping that Xi Jinping would have been the leader to reformed the state-owned enterprises system, create a social safety net on par with Taiwan's model, and move the country's economy away from exports towards consumerism instead.  His consolidation of power (I assumed) would enable him to do that.  And then whoever comes after him would begin the long-awaited process of political liberalization. 

[peterthlee]

Xi, just because he abolished the immunity for Politburo standing committee members from charges of corruption (this might be just a tactic for targeting his foes in the CCP). In addition, he was firmly held onto the sovereignty principles (South China Sea, East China Sea, etc). You might disagree with my opinion, but this is what a pan-Chinese nationalist, like me, believe in.

[Blue3]

Hu or Xi. I have not heard good things about Jiang.

[jaichind]

Xi then Jiang then Hu. I had a lot of high hopes for Hu but in the end he was all talk and lacked the real power to push through necessary economic reforms even though the conditions were ripe for such reforms.  Xi is making more progress even in a much more difficult environment.  Part of it of course was post-1995 Jiang had a free reign as Deng faded away while Hu (who was anointed by Deng and was never Jiang's pick to succeed him) had to grapple with an active behind-the-scenes Jiang.  Under Xi both Hu and Jiang has pretty much faded into the background giving him much more free reign.