Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping was appointed vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission during the Fifth Plenary Session of the 17th CCP's Central Committee — a four-day event which ended on Monday. The appointment set the 57-year-old Mr. Xi, who now holds the No. 6 position in the party, on track to succeed President Hu Jintao in 2013.

The meeting, which was convened mainly to discuss China's new five-year economic plan, took place shortly after the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Oct. 8 that it would award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Mr. Liu Xiaobo, an imprisoned Chinese human rights activist. During the plenary session, people in several places in inland China held fierce anti-Japanese demonstrations, following the arrest in September by Japan of a Chinese fishing boat captain for allegedly ramming his boat against two Japan Coast Guard patrol ships inside Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands of Okinawa Prefecture.

China reacted strongly to Norway in protest against the Peace Prize decision. It also showed an unexpectedly strong attitude toward Japan over the Senkaku incident. Since China has entered a period of leadership transition, it may be unable to afford to take any move that can be interpreted by Chinese officials and people as being diplomatically weak. But China should be aware of its responsibility as an important player in the international community in view of its economic and military power.

Restraint in its behavior is particularly called for in East and Southeast Asia because China's military presence there has already caused worries to its neighbors. China should realize that in this age of close interdependence, its one-sided behavior could result in greatly harming its own interests. Japan and other countries should carefully watch China's moves as it tries to reform its economy and political system while preparing for full transfer of power from Mr. Hu to Mr. Xi.

Mr. Xi is a member of what is called taizidang, literally the crown prince party or children of China's communist elite. His father was the late Xi Zhongxun, a vice premier who contributed to the success of Shenzhen, China's first free-market economic zone. The senior Xi once suffered a political downfall in the 1960s. During the Great Cultural Revolution, the young Xi was driven to a farming village in Shaanxi Province.

Mr. Xi later joined the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing. He has 25 years of experience in local administrative work in Hebei, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces. He was promoted to secretary of the party's committee in Shanghai, succeeding his predecessor who was fired for corruption, in March 2007 and was appointed a member of the party's Politburo Standing Committee in October that year, climbing to the party's No. 6 position. At that time, his rival Mr. Li Keqiang also became a member of the standing committee, rising to the party's No. 7 position. Mr. Xi was elected vice president of China in the National People's Congress in the spring of 2008 while Mr. Li was elected vice premier. Mr. Xi was in charge of managing the Beijing Olympics of 2008 and led the games to a success.

Party elders chose to make Mr. Xi China's next leader mainly because of the wide support he receives from party and military members. While he is strongly backed by a group close to former President Jiang Zemin, his relations with President Hu, a benefactor of Mr. Li, are not bad.

Mr. Xi is expected to become the party's general secretary, a position occupied by Mr. Hu, in 2012, and president of the country in the spring of 2013 while Mr. Li is expected to become premier, succeeding Mr. Wen Jiabao. It may take a longer time for Mr. Xi to become chairman of the party's Central Military Position, a position held by Mr. Hu.

While China moves toward new leadership, it must tackle problems that have emerged amid high economic growth — especially the divide between the rich and the poor and the economic gap between the coastal urban areas and the inland rural areas. In setting the 12th five-year plan to cover 2011-2015, the plenary session's communique said that the five-year period is a "crucial stage for building a moderately prosperous society in an all-around way."

As the communique says, China must increase the ratio of people's incomes to the national income and the ratio of workers' incomes in the primary distribution of national income, perfect the social security system that covers urban and rural residents and take concrete measures to secure social harmony and stability.

The communique says in part that "vigorous yet steady efforts shall be made to promote political restructuring." Without this, China's development will be lopsided. China's leadership should carry out true political restructuring to create democratic institutions that will listen to people's grievances and take necessary corrective measures.