Cross-Strait relations talks had broken down. Chen Shui-bian was elected President of the ROC in 2000. Politically, Chen is strongly pro-Taiwan independence. Chen's repudiation of the 1992 Consensus combined with the PRC's insistence that the ROC agree to the "one China" principle for negotiations to occur prevented improvement in cross-strait relations. Hu Jintao became President of the PRC in 2003, though he was ruling "de facto" paramount leader as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since late 2002. Chen called for talks without any preconditions, repudiating the 1992 consensus while Hu continued to insist that talks can only proceed under
Hu Jintao tough-on-corruption policies have seen mixed results. While there have been some attempts to increase transparency in the expenditures of official organs and bureaucrats, deeply entrenched systemic issues that were contributing to the growth of corruption remained unresolved. In addition, the massive corruption scandal that ensnared the military shortly after Hu's departure from office showed that Hu was unable to tackle entrenched interests in the military. In his own departing speech at the 18th Party Congress, Hu emphasized the potentially devastating effects that unchecked corruption would have on the party and the country. Moreover, the Hu administration's insistence on censorship and