China's Communist Party opened a four-day, closed-door meeting on Thursday that will decide whether military chief Jiang Zemin completes a leadership succession by passing on his last post to party chief Hu Jintao.
Behind-the-scenes rivalry between Hu, 61, who succeeded Jiang as party chief in 2002 and president in 2003, and his ageing but still influential predecessor and their allies has emerged subtly into the open in recent weeks.
But analysts said the rivalry was unlikely to blow up into a full power struggle because both see stability as indispensable to sustainable growth in the world's seventh-biggest economy.
Jiang, 78, had offered to resign as chairman of the Central Military Commission in the run-up to the plenum of the elite Central Committee, said a source with close ties to military leadership circles and a government insider, both of whom requested anonymity. They echoed a recent story in the New York Times.
"Jiang's offer to step down needs the approval of the Central Committee," the source with military ties told Reuters. The Central Committee has 198 members.
It was unclear if Jiang's offer to resign was a genuine move to go or a gambit to cling to the chairmanship because political allies would reject his offer.
Several sources and analysts said that - barring last-minute jockeying - Jiang would not give up the top job in the military now unless his legacy and interests were assured.
State media, battlefield for many a power play within the opaque Communist Party, have taken a flurry of swipes at Jiang, fuelling speculation of his imminent departure in the style of Deng Xiaoping, who gave up the top job in the military two years after quitting the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee.
Taiwan's Chinese-language United Evening News added to the speculation that Jiang's departure was imminent with a front-page report that Jiang would tender his resignation at the plenum.
But in a move that could fuel military tensions with Taiwan and possibly help Jiang cling to power, the island's foreign ministry said on Thursday it was considering applying to join the United Nations under the name "Taiwan" instead of its official name "Republic of China".
Beijing, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has threatened war if the island formally declares independence, would see such a move as a declaration of nationhood.
A plenum decision on whether to let Jiang go may not be known until it ends on Sunday, in keeping with decades of traditional party secrecy over changes in the top leadership.
Previous Chinese leadership successions have ended in bloodshed or disgrace.
One heir apparent died in prison and another was killed in a mysterious plane crash after a coup attempt. Several have been sacked - the last one, Zhao Ziyang, remains under house arrest 15 years after losing his job after the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.
A party propaganda official declined to say where the meeting was being held but the venue is believed to be Beijing's exclusive Jingxi Hotel. Security at the hotel was tight on Thursday, snarling traffic in surrounding streets.
The official declined to say if Jiang attended. In a terse report, the official Xinhua news agency did not say who was at the opening. State television did not mention the meeting.
Hu's vision of perpetuating Communist Party rule through good governance - transparency and official accountability - is set to top the agenda as part of a crackdown on corruption.
Almost two years into his mandate, Hu has become more assertive by portraying himself as a man of the people, but has yet fully to consolidate power, analysts said.
On Wednesday, Hu called for parliament to take a stronger watchdog role but ruled out Western-style democracy for China in a sign any reform would be incremental.
The Communist Party has monopolised politics since the 1949 revolution, but in recent years has experimented with modest political change, searching for checks and balances to curb corruption and official waste.