Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SHANGHAI801
2007-12-20 06:41:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Consulate Shanghai
Cable title:  

SHANGHAI LEADERSHIP AND BIOGRAPHICAL POTPOURRI

Tags:  PGOV PINR PREL ECON CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6328
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0801/01 3540641
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 200641Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6553
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1599
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0840
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1153
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1022
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 1022
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0992
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0192
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 7075
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000801 

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, INR/B AND INR/EAP
STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD, WINTER, MCCARTIN, WINELAND, READE
TREASURY FOR OASIA - DOHNER/CUSHMAN, WRIGHT
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC - KASOFF, MELCHER, MCQUEEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2032
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ECON CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI LEADERSHIP AND BIOGRAPHICAL POTPOURRI

REF: A) SHANGHAI 36; B) 06 SHANGHAI 7121

CLASSIFIED BY: Kenneth Jarrett, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General Shanghai, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000801

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, INR/B AND INR/EAP
STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD, WINTER, MCCARTIN, WINELAND, READE
TREASURY FOR OASIA - DOHNER/CUSHMAN, WRIGHT
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC - KASOFF, MELCHER, MCQUEEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/20/2032
TAGS: PGOV PINR PREL ECON CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI LEADERSHIP AND BIOGRAPHICAL POTPOURRI

REF: A) SHANGHAI 36; B) 06 SHANGHAI 7121

CLASSIFIED BY: Kenneth Jarrett, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General Shanghai, Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (S) Summary: Yang Yuanxing, husband of a new Politburo
member, describes Shanghai Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng as a
capable and clean leader whose style of seeking out problems
rather than latest accomplishments in discussions with
subordinates often discomfits those officials. Yu is dismissive
of motorcades and unneeded participants in meetings. Several of
our contacts predict that Yu will be liberal in running
Shanghai, because at his age he is not looking for further
advancement. Several contacts predict Shanghai Mayor Han
Zheng's career is about to end, with no promotion or lateral
transfer prospects. If he does not get a seat in next month's
Shanghai Municipal People's Congress, then it will be clear he
is moving on. Retired party elders truly are interested in
retirement, as well as Party matters sometimes. End summary.


2. (C) On December 14, the CG hosted a luncheon for departing
Poloff and several of his contacts. Attendees included: China
Southeast Technology Trading Head Office President Yang Yuanxing
(husband of Politburo member Liu Yandong); Tongji University
Professor Frank Peng; Shanghai Municipal People's Congress
(SMPC) researcher Zhou Meiyan; Nanjing University Professor Gu
Su; People's Daily reporter Bao Jian; and Shanghai University
Professor Zhu Xueqin.

Yu Zhengsheng: A Capable Chap


3. (C) Yang (refs A and B) said that he knew new Shanghai Party
Secretary Yu Zhengsheng from the time that Yu was a little boy;

SIPDIS
he was childhood friends with Yu's older brother who defected to
the United States in the 1980s. Yang said that even as a school

boy, it was apparent that Yu was "capable" and was being groomed
early on to be an official--something to which Yu himself
aspired. Gu added that he expected Yu to be a better Shanghai
Party Secretary than Xi Jinping had been. Zhou agreed, adding
that Xi's only real accomplishment during his seven month tenure
had been "stabilizing" the political situation in the
municipality. Professor Zhu said this will be Yu's last stop.
Therefore, Zhu speculated, Yu had a great deal of leeway since
he was not aiming for promotion and could afford to be more
politically liberal and relaxed than an up-and-comer might be.


4. (C) Bao said that Yu does not like to have extraneous
officials in meetings with him; only those necessary to provide
him his briefing and answer his questions. He also keeps the
number of officials in his entourage down when he goes on
inspections. When he calls on local officials, he does not want
to hear about their successes and achievements, but insists on
them reporting the problems in their portfolios. Problems are
opportunities for progress and new accomplishments, Yu stresses.
Most local officials are used to providing only good news and
discussing their successes and do not know how to deal with Yu's
leadership style. Zhou added that Yu does not travel with many
bodyguards. During a November 26 discussion, Jiaotong
University Professor Hu Wei made similar comments, noting that
Yu travels in a relatively simple car (a VW Passat sedan)
without a motorcade, including when on inspection visits to
municipal government offices.

Han on the Out


5. (C) Zhou said it was unlikely that Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng
would be selected for a second term at the January SMPC meeting,
noting that if his name is not listed as a delegate, that would
be a good indication that he will be moving on - or out
altogether. There was general consensus among those at the
table that Han would likely be gone soon, despite Yu
Zhengsheng's recent statement that he hopes Han will stay on for
a while. Peng said that removing Han in January would mean that
Han had stayed for "a while" which was an intentionally vague
formulation. While none of the contacts had insights into Han's
next assignment, Zhou and others agreed that it was possible Han

SHANGHAI 00000801 002 OF 002


could be without a senior position altogether. Bao said that it
was impossible that Han was not involved in the scandal that
toppled former Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Liangyu; a notion
with which Zhou and others readily agreed. Zhou said she does
not know who is likely to replace Han.

Other Leadership Insights


6. (S) Yang said that Dai Bingguo will be Vice Premier over
foreign affairs, Wang Qishan will cover finance, and Zhang
Dejiang will be responsible for the foreign trade portfolio
currently covered by Wu Yi. There was general consensus among
the guests that this would be the case. Poloff commented to
Yang on the margins that it is fortunate that with the end of
the Party Congress it appears that he and his wife will not have
to move from Beijing. Yang replied that "nothing is certain" at
this point, suggesting that a move to the provinces might still
be under consideration for Liu Yandong.


7. (C) The guests agreed that these days most party elders do
not do much of anything other than enjoy their retirement.
Former Premier Zhu Rongji spends his time playing the erhu and
singing Chinese opera. Former Vice Premier Li Lanqing teaches
music. One of the more active elders appears to be departing
Vice President Zeng Qinghong who recently spent a month relaxing
in Suzhou. Bao added that elders must receive central
government permission before they are allowed to publish any
books. (Congenoffs saw a Li Lanqing collection of Chinese seals
on display at the Suzhou Museum in early November.)

Biographic Notes


8. (S) Yang said that his father, Yang Xiandong, worked for the
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency between 1945 and 1947 helping
run operations against the Japanese. That led to criticism
during the Cultural Revolution and accusations that his father
was a spy for the United States. Yang's father and family were
protected from major maltreatment by former Premier Zhou Enlai,
who was friends with Yang Xiandong. (Note: In a December 2006
discussion with Congenoff, Yang said that his father's
association with Mao Zedong had also been an ameliorating
factor. End note.) Yang has a younger brother in Salt Lake
City who works for a Taiwan-invested company. One of his
younger sisters lives in the D.C. area.


9. (C) Yang said that his daughter is married to a Chinese
citizen who has a Canadian "green card." His daughter works for
Bank of China in Hong Kong but returns to Beijing at least once
a week to see her parents and to oversee a private company she
owns. She had tried to start her own company in Silicon Valley
which folded after two years; Yang successfully encouraged her
to return to China after 9/11. The daughter, now 35, has no
children of her own, despite Yang's persistent encouragement.
She studied for two years in Japan.


10. (C) Yang has a tendency to monopolize conversations, at
times bordering on being grandiloquent. He drops names and it
is clear that he enjoys his privileged status. He said a friend
with a great interest in Lin Biao had trucked the wreckage of
Lin Biao's crashed aircraft back to Beijing where it is now
displayed in a club. Yang swims outdoors, even in Beijing in
the middle of winter. He boasted of having spent over thirty
minutes in the water in -13 degree Centigrade weather. Yang
drinks the tap water all over China, preferring Beijing water to
Shanghai water, saying that the latter has a peculiar taste.
Yang said his company's exports to the United States and other
countries include fishing rods.
JARRETT