2003年4月底，中共海军发生了一起重大潜艇事故，海军北海舰队361常规柴电潜艇在山东内长山岛以东训练时，由于潜艇充电时，启动柴油发动机，进气阀机械故障未能打开，发动机启动后大量吸燃艇内的氧气，致使潜艇内迅速缺氧，艇内70名官兵窒息致死。
事故曝光后，时任中共总书记的胡锦涛和时任中央军委主席的江泽民于5月2日下午分别乘坐专机同时前往失事潜艇所在基地大连，但在两人各自的专机到达大连上空，准备降落前，却出现了谁先降落谁后降落，谁接谁的问题。
是党的总书记专机先降落？还是军委主席的专机先降落？谁给谁在空中让道？颇让接待的中共军方机构和辽宁地方政府为难。
时任中共辽宁省委书记是闻世震，而当时的海军司令是辽宁抚顺人石云生，这两位都没拍江泽民的马屁。
他们最后决定通知机场指挥塔，让胡锦涛的专机先行降落，而让江泽民的专机则在空中盘旋，为胡锦涛的专机降落让出通道。将近十分钟之后，江泽民的专机才得以降落机场。
江泽民本来在2002年十六大应该退休时，江的心腹亲信以中央军委第一副主席张万年为首的23名军队高级将领，发起〝特别动议〞，逼胡同意江连任军委主席。
胡锦涛在2003年成为中共总书记、国家主席后，江泽民仍然是军委主席，胡锦涛并没有掌握实质的权力。
也许是中共海军让胡锦涛的专机先降落这一举动怠慢了江泽民，2003年6月，江泽民借〝361潜舰事件〞撤了石云生，任命发誓死忠的上一任北海舰队司令张定发为海军司令员。
北海舰队的最高军事主官丁一平和政委陈先锋也被双双降职处分。
丁一平为中共原南京高级步兵学校政治委员丁秋生中将之子，2002年12月，他接替张定发出任中共海军实力最强的北海舰队司令员。被撤去北海舰队司令职务后，他的级别从副大军区降级到正军，从此仕途一蹶不振。
2006年〝五一〞期间，消息称，胡锦涛乘坐中共最先进的一艘导弹驱逐舰到黄海视察北海舰队时，江泽民也去了青岛，突然两艘北海舰队军舰同时向胡乘坐的导弹驱逐舰开火，打死驱逐舰上5名海军战士。胡锦涛逃过一劫。
事后，被拘捕的舰艇官员供认，命令是江泽民下达的，但没人听他的，后来还是时任中共海军司令的张定发来电话下指示，为保万无一失，要两舰夹击，并许愿给他们大幅度晋级。这些人以为胡死定了，没想到死的是他们自己人，还有海军老大。
2006年12月14日，63岁的张定发在北京死亡，据说弥留的最后几个月他生不如死，死时人已经脱像。
由于胡锦涛被暗杀的事被香港媒体捅开，张定发死后，只有海军小报在头版刊出个短讯，消息中只有一个简单的不能再简单的履历，甚至连个黑白遗照都免了。
Jiang Zemin's plane turns around in the air to make way for Hu Jintao
In 2003, when the special plane of Hu Jintao, then general secretary of the Communist Party of China, and Jiang Zemin, then chairman of the Central Military Commission, arrived in Dalian at the same time, the Chinese navy let Hu's plane land first and let Jiang's plane turn around in the air to make way for Hu, a move that seems to have annoyed Jiang Zemin, and the top brass of the Chinese navy was purged after the incident.
In the end of April 2003, a major submarine accident occurred in the Chinese navy, the Navy's North Sea Fleet 361 conventional diesel-electric submarine in Shandong Province, east of Changshan Island training, because the submarine charging, start the diesel engine, the air intake valve mechanical failure to open, the engine started a large number of oxygen absorption inside the boat, resulting in a rapid lack of oxygen in the submarine, the boat 70 officers and men suffocated to death.
After the accident came to light, Hu Jintao, then General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, and Jiang Zemin, then Chairman of the Central Military Commission, went to Dalian, the base of the crashed submarine, on the afternoon of May 2 in separate planes, but before their respective planes arrived over Dalian and prepared to land, there was a question of who landed first and who landed second and who picked up who.
Did the party general secretary's plane land first? Or the special plane of the Chairman of the Military Commission landed first? Who gave way to whom in the air? It was quite a dilemma for the receiving Chinese military agencies and the local government of Liaoning.
The then Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee was Wen Shizhen, and the then Navy Commander was Shi Yunsheng, a native of Fushun, Liaoning, neither of whom was kissing Jiang Zemin's ass.
They finally decided to inform the airport command tower to let Hu Jintao's plane land first, while Jiang Zemin's plane hovered in the air to make way for Hu Jintao's plane to land. After nearly ten minutes, Jiang Zemin's plane was able to land at the airport.
When Jiang Zemin was due to retire at the 16th National Congress in 2002, 23 senior military generals, led by Zhang Wannian, the first vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and close to Jiang's inner circle, initiated a "special motion" to force Hu to agree to Jiang's re-election as chairman of the military commission.
After Hu Jintao became general secretary and president of the CCP in 2003, Jiang Zemin remained chairman of the military commission, and Hu Jintao did not hold substantial power.
Perhaps the Chinese Navy's move to let Hu Jintao's plane land first slowed Jiang Zemin down, and in June 2003, Jiang removed Shi Yunsheng in the wake of the 361 submarine incident and appointed Zhang Dingfa, the previous commander of the North Sea Fleet who had sworn loyalty, as commander of the Navy.
Ding Yiping, the top military officer of the North Sea Fleet, and Chen Xianfeng, a political commissar, were both demoted and disciplined.
Ding Yiping, the son of Lieutenant General Ding Qiusheng, former political commissar of the Communist Party's Nanjing Senior Infantry School, replaced Zhang Dingfa as commander of the North Sea Fleet, the strongest naval force in the Communist Party, in December 2002. After he was removed from the command of the North Sea Fleet, his rank was demoted from deputy military region to full military, and his career has been in decline ever since.
During the May Day 2006, sources said that Hu Jintao took one of the most advanced Chinese missile destroyers to the Yellow Sea to inspect the North Sea Fleet when Jiang Zemin also went to Qingdao. Hu Jintao escaped with his life.
Afterwards, the arrested ship officers confessed that the order was given by Jiang Zemin, but no one listened to him. Later, it was Zhang Dingfa, then commander of the Chinese Communist Navy, who came to the phone to give instructions that the two ships should be pinned down in order to ensure that nothing would happen, and promised to give them a substantial promotion. These people thought Hu was dead, but did not expect to die is their own people, and the Navy boss.
On December 14, 2006, 63-year-old Zhang Dingfa died in Beijing, it is said that the last few months of the mass he was worse than dead, and at the time of his death, people have been off the image.
As Hu Jintao was assassinated by the Hong Kong media, after Zhang Dingfa's death, only the Navy tabloid published a short message on the front page, the message only a simple biography can not be simpler, even a black and white posthumous photo are exempted.
In 2003, when the special plane of Hu Jintao, then general secretary of the Communist Party of China, and Jiang Zemin, then chairman of the Central Military Commission, arrived in Dalian at the same time, the Chinese navy let Hu's plane land first and let Jiang's plane turn around in the air to make way for Hu, a move that seems to have annoyed Jiang Zemin, and the top brass of the Chinese navy was purged after the incident.
In the end of April 2003, a major submarine accident occurred in the Chinese navy, the Navy's North Sea Fleet 361 conventional diesel-electric submarine in Shandong Province, east of Changshan Island training, because the submarine charging, start the diesel engine, the air intake valve mechanical failure to open, the engine started a large number of oxygen absorption inside the boat, resulting in a rapid lack of oxygen in the submarine, the boat 70 officers and men suffocated to death.
After the accident came to light, Hu Jintao, then General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, and Jiang Zemin, then Chairman of the Central Military Commission, went to Dalian, the base of the crashed submarine, on the afternoon of May 2 in separate planes, but before their respective planes arrived over Dalian and prepared to land, there was a question of who landed first and who landed second and who picked up who.
Did the party general secretary's plane land first? Or the special plane of the Chairman of the Military Commission landed first? Who gave way to whom in the air? It was quite a dilemma for the receiving Chinese military agencies and the local government of Liaoning.
The then Secretary of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee was Wen Shizhen, and the then Navy Commander was Shi Yunsheng, a native of Fushun, Liaoning, neither of whom was kissing Jiang Zemin's ass.
They finally decided to inform the airport command tower to let Hu Jintao's plane land first, while Jiang Zemin's plane hovered in the air to make way for Hu Jintao's plane to land. After nearly ten minutes, Jiang Zemin's plane was able to land at the airport.
When Jiang Zemin was due to retire at the 16th National Congress in 2002, 23 senior military generals, led by Zhang Wannian, the first vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, and close to Jiang's inner circle, initiated a "special motion" to force Hu to agree to Jiang's re-election as chairman of the military commission.
After Hu Jintao became general secretary and president of the CCP in 2003, Jiang Zemin remained chairman of the military commission, and Hu Jintao did not hold substantial power.
Perhaps the Chinese Navy's move to let Hu Jintao's plane land first slowed Jiang Zemin down, and in June 2003, Jiang removed Shi Yunsheng in the wake of the 361 submarine incident and appointed Zhang Dingfa, the previous commander of the North Sea Fleet who had sworn loyalty, as commander of the Navy.
Ding Yiping, the top military officer of the North Sea Fleet, and Chen Xianfeng, a political commissar, were both demoted and disciplined.
Ding Yiping, the son of Lieutenant General Ding Qiusheng, former political commissar of the Communist Party's Nanjing Senior Infantry School, replaced Zhang Dingfa as commander of the North Sea Fleet, the strongest naval force in the Communist Party, in December 2002. After he was removed from the command of the North Sea Fleet, his rank was demoted from deputy military region to full military, and his career has been in decline ever since.
During the May Day 2006, sources said that Hu Jintao took one of the most advanced Chinese missile destroyers to the Yellow Sea to inspect the North Sea Fleet when Jiang Zemin also went to Qingdao. Hu Jintao escaped with his life.
Afterwards, the arrested ship officers confessed that the order was given by Jiang Zemin, but no one listened to him. Later, it was Zhang Dingfa, then commander of the Chinese Communist Navy, who came to the phone to give instructions that the two ships should be pinned down in order to ensure that nothing would happen, and promised to give them a substantial promotion. These people thought Hu was dead, but did not expect to die is their own people, and the Navy boss.
On December 14, 2006, 63-year-old Zhang Dingfa died in Beijing, it is said that the last few months of the mass he was worse than dead, and at the time of his death, people have been off the image.
As Hu Jintao was assassinated by the Hong Kong media, after Zhang Dingfa's death, only the Navy tabloid published a short message on the front page, the message only a simple biography can not be simpler, even a black and white posthumous photo are exempted.