New health minister not a party member

China's new health minister is not a member of the Communist Party. The appointment of Chen Zhu, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Science, is part of a move by the government to adopt its own model of democracy by appointing more non-party members to senior posts, the South China Morning Post reported.  Before the annual National People's Congress next year, Beijing may fill more senior posts with academics. With Chen's appointment, the government may also be trying to illustrate that meritocracy is playing an increasingly important role. The Paris-educated Chen is director of the Chinese Human Genome Center in Shanghai and director of the Shanghai Institute of Haematology at Ruijin Hospital. Observers had expected the announcement that Chen would replace Gao
Qiang, 63, last month, when new ministers of foreign affairs, science
and technology, water resources and land resources were appointed.