South China Academics Discuss Mind Emancipation,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 000280 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/CM, INR/EAP, INR/B E.O. 12958: DECL: 2033/05/15 TAGS: PGOV PINR CH SUBJECT: South China Academics Discuss Mind Emancipation, Political Reform and Guangdong's Rising Stars REF: Guangzhou 203 ¶1. (U) Classified by Consul General Robert Goldberg for reason 1.4 (d). ¶2. (C) SUMMARY: Is there some resemblance between the Mind Emancipation campaign in Guangdong and Deng Xiaoping's Reform and Opening period? Academics at Guangzhou's Academy of Social Science certainly think so, as Beijing's support is squarely behind the Mind Emancipation campaign here. Major obstacles to political reform include the unwillingness of non-Party businesspeople and other professionals in Guangdong's legislative and representative bodies to commit to a fuller engagement and the impact on local elections of money politics and corrupt practices. The academics agreed that provincial Party Secretary Wang Yang and Guangzhou Party Secretary Zhu Xiaodan, among others, were Guangdong's rising political stars. END SUMMARY. Mind Emancipation -------------- ¶3. (C) In Guangzhou, local government leaders are taking the Mind Emancipation campaign -- which Party Secretary Wang Yang has made a priority for the province (Reftel) -- seriously; Guangzhou's district-level governments were required to submit new work plans by April 28, according to Guangzhou Academy of Social Science (GASS) political expert Peng Peng, who regularly makes presentations about Mind Emancipation to local district offices. Both Peng and GASS former Vice President Wang Rui put Beijing squarely behind Guangdong Party Secretary Wang Yang's implementation of the campaign, likening it to Deng Xiaoping's support and encouragement of former provincial Party Secretary Ren Zhongri during the early years of reform in south China. Indeed, Peng commented that the latest campaign is the third "emancipation" in China's history of reform -- the first having taken place at the beginning of the era of reform and opening with the liberalization of Mao Zedong's economic policies and the second in 1992, with Deng Xiaoping's visit to south China. ¶4. (C) In a separate meeting, GASS President Li Jiangtao similarly commented that Wang Yang had made "good connections" in Beijing by virtue of his former position as deputy secretary general of the State Council. Wang Yang's previous assignment to Chongqing and his current appointment as principal leader of China's largest 
provincial economy all demonstrate Beijing's trust and support, according to Li. ¶5. (C) In Guangdong, Mind Emancipation aims to challenge the complacency of local officials who feel that their local economies are already sufficiently developed, according to GASS's Wang. He said that, from both personal experience and interviews with local entrepreneurs, many local officials are no longer as aggressive as those in the 1980s. He went on to say that "conservative" officials -- especially those associated with state-owned monopolies or in government agencies controlling needed resources -- had become barriers to reform. Political Reform Still Problematic -------------- ¶6. (C) Peng noted that a growing number of non-Party members are joining local People's Congresses (PCs) and People's Political Consultative Conferences (PPCCs) and are becoming increasingly outspoken. He added, though, that the influence of non-Party members "remains negligible," and that in some respects the fault was their own. He said that reluctance by professionals and business owners in the representative bodies to focus on politics instead of their businesses, which demand the bulk of their energies, had slowed reform. Moreover, Peng said that most Chinese private entrepreneurs lack political savvy and are uninterested in politics, viewing PC and PPCC membership more as a feather for their caps than a serious commitment. Peng guessed that much time would pass -- "perhaps 50 years" -- before this demographic would play a significant political role. ¶7. (C) Though they viewed Guangdong's direct elections for local community administration committees and a yet- unimplemented plan for direct elections at the township level as very positive developments, Peng and Wang lamented persistent corruption problems. They alleged that in some GUANGZHOU 00000280 002 OF 003 villages candidates were ready to spend "over one million yuan" (roughly USD 143,000) to "buy ballots." They predicted that, once elected, "such people would be very likely to use their power for financial gain." Rising Stars -------------- ¶8. (C) The three academics unanimously cited current Guangdong Party Secretary Wang Yang as a man on the move. His chances for a future appointment to the Politburo Standing Committee for the Eighteenth Party Congress were judged as "likely" by Peng and Wang and "almost certain" by Li. All three also identified current Guangzhou Party Secretary Zhu Xiaodan as having a promising political future, with probably a governorship in Guangdong or elsewhere as his next promotion. Li suggested that Guangdong Propaganda Department Director General Lin Xiong was one to watch, while Peng and Wang thought that Guangdong Organization Department Director General Hu Zejun, who was assigned to south China after working in Beijing, stood a good chance of being promoted back to the national capital. "Rising Stars'" Biographical Information -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Zhu Xiaodian was born January 1953 in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and joined the Communist Party December 1975. Zhu gained extensive experience in the Communist Youth League from 1971 to 1987, ultimately serving as secretary of the Guangzhou Youth League and its Party Member's Group. He was promoted again in 1984, serving as secretary of the Conghua County Party Committee and deputy secretary general of the Guangzhou Party Committee until 1991. Zhu then spent 1991-2002 in the Guangzhou Party Committee, where he was a standing member and deputy secretary and the director of the Guangzhou Publicity Department. From 2002 to 2006 Zhu worked as director of the Guangdong Party Committee's United Front Work Department and since 2003 Zhu has been a standing member of the Guangdong Party Committee. He was also deputy chairman of the Guangdong Political People's Consultative Conference 2002-2004. In 2006 Zhu was named Guangzhou Party Secretary and has since 2007 simultaneously served as the director of the standing committee of the Guangdong People's Congress. ¶10. (SBU) Lin Xiong was born May 1959 in Lingao, Hainan, and joined the Communist Party in November 1983. Lin studied Chinese literature at Sun Yat-sen University 1978- 1982, from which he also earned a masters degree in Politics and Economics in 1997. From 1982 to 1994 he worked in progressively more important positions within the CPC Central Committee's General Office and Secretariat, ultimately reaching the level of deputy director general. Then, while still retaining his previous positions at the CPC Central Committee, Lin was named secretary of the Dongguan Party Committee in 1994, rising to the director general level by 2001. 2001-2003 Lin served as both deputy secretary of the Maoming Municipal Government's Party Committee and the city's Mayor. After spending 2003-2006 as secretary of the Zhaoqing Party Committee and director of the standing committee of the Zhaoqing People's Congress, Lin assumed his current positions as director general of the Guangdong Propaganda Department and as standing member of the Guangdong Party Committee. ¶11. (SBU) He Zejun was born March 1955 in Chongqing, Sichuan, and joined the Communist Party February 1976. Following several years working as a "sent-down youth" at a Sichuan commune, Hu joined the Sichuan Youth League's Xichong County Commission as a deputy secretary in 1976. The next year she became the deputy director the Young Intellectual Work-Leading Group of the Nanchong Party Committee in Sichuan. She studied philosophy and Chinese Legal Theory 1978-1985 at the Southwest Politics and Law University, where she earned a masters degree in law and subsequently taught courses 1985-1995. During her final four years at the University He also served as deputy and secretary of the school's Party Committee. She spent 1995- 2001 as deputy director of the Politics Department of the Ministry of Justice and a member, beginning in 1996, of the Party Members' Group there. From 2001 to 2004 He served as deputy director general of the Ministry of Justice, including a stint (2003-2004) on the State National Defense Mobilization Commission. Since her transfer to Guangdong in 2004 He has been a standing member of the Guangdong Party Committee and director general of the Guangdong GUANGZHOU 00000280 003 OF 003 Organization Department. GOLDBERG