Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SHENYANG45
2008-04-08 07:54:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Shenyang
Cable title:  

NORTHEAST CHINA LEADERS TO WATCH (PT. 2):

Tags:  PGOV PINR ECON CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6023
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHSH #0045/01 0990754
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 080754Z APR 08
FM AMCONSUL SHENYANG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8384
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC 0105
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHENYANG 000045 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2028
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON CH
SUBJECT: NORTHEAST CHINA LEADERS TO WATCH (PT. 2):
HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE UNDER NEW PARTY SECRETARY JI BINGXUAN

REF: A. (A) SHENYANG 44

B. (B) SHENYANG 19

Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL STEPHEN B. WICKMAN.
REASONS: 1.4 (b/d).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHENYANG 000045

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/08/2028
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON CH
SUBJECT: NORTHEAST CHINA LEADERS TO WATCH (PT. 2):
HEILONGJIANG PROVINCE UNDER NEW PARTY SECRETARY JI BINGXUAN

REF: A. (A) SHENYANG 44

B. (B) SHENYANG 19

Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL STEPHEN B. WICKMAN.
REASONS: 1.4 (b/d).


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Northeast China is home to a number of
promising, up-and-coming officials worth watching as they
seek to prove their political mettle in "revitalizing" this
strategic corner of the PRC. Communist Youth League
lineages remain a common denominator in most, but not all,
profilees. Yesterday's sudden appointment of a national
propaganda impresario as Party Secretary of Heilongjiang
means that all three of Northeast China's governorships and
one of its three party-chief slots are occupied by Youth
Leaguers. Working under new Party Secretary Ji Bingxuan
are a number of Heilongjiang officials likely bound for
more central pastures. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) This is the second in a two-part series on
leadership dynamics in northeast China over the past year,
with a particular emphasis on rising stars likely bound for
higher--possibly national--office. Part one (ref A)
focused on Liaoning and Jilin provinces; this focuses on
Heilongjiang Province.

HEILONGJIANG: A FEW WORTH TRACKING
--------------

3. (C) ENTER JI BINGXUAN. Still struggling with cleaning
up the major corruption scandals that paralyzed the
province only a few years ago, Heilongjiang Province until
this week had experienced fairly moderate turnover at its
highest levels over the past year. A new governor emerged
when ZHANG Zuoji, the 63-year-old former Minister of Labor-
-whom provincial leaders claimed to us was in poor health,
and whom we generally had found quite unimpressive--stepped
down, ceding the position to LI Zhanshu. (Zhang, well-
regarded by Heilongjiang residents but allegedly scorned by
Beijing for his role in publicizing the contamination of
the Songhua River in 2005, engineered a bland sunset
appointment in Beijing to cap his career.) Party Secretary
(PS) QIAN Yunlu, meanwhile, earned himself a vice
chairmanship at the national Chinese People's Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC) during the recent round of

national and provincial reshuffling, but for several months
he had appeared unlikely to transfer to Beijing until
reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65 in 2009.


4. (SBU) Plans changed abruptly on April 7 when Beijing
announced that Qian will be imminently replaced by JI
Bingxuan, a 56-year-old, up-and-coming heavyweight who
since 2403 has served as a propaganda impresario for Hu
Jintao as Executive Deputy Director of the Central
Committee's Publicity Department. Starting in the early
1980s Ji quickly burnished his credentials during nearly
fifteen years in Henan Province in a variety of political
postings, including as Secretary of Henan's Communist Youth
League (CYL) and as a municipal PS during the peak of
(future Politburo Standing Committee member and national
propaganda chief) Li Changchun's career in the province.
Following two years in the national CYL Secretariat and a
stint in Jilin as provincial propaganda chief, Ji returned
to Beijing in 1998, earning major postings over the next
ten years in the State Administration of Radio, Film and
Television and the Central Committee's propaganda arm.
Some dubbed Ji "Director No" for his less-than-progressive
views on media control, on display most prominently during
the Party's 2006 crackdown on "Freezing Point," the China
Youth Daily's envelope-pushing magazine supplement. More
of the same looks likely under Ji in conservative
Heilongjiang, not known for its intrepid journalism.



5. (C) LI ZHANSHU. Following fifteen years at the
administrative rank of vice governor, Heilongjiang Deputy
Party Secretary Li Zhanshu regained his stride in 2007,
replacing Zhang Zuoji as Governor in December. Li has a
compelling resume of functional executive experience in
three provinces: Hebei, Shaanxi (where he served as Xi'an
Party Secretary) and Heilongjiang (where from 2004 onward
he worked his way up to Executive Vice Governor). He
headed Hebei's Youth League in the 1980s, but his CYL
experience is more limited compared to other Youth Leaguers
profiled here and in ref A. Li did, however, tell us he
once had the unwelcome distinction of leading the very
first CYL delegation to the U.S. following Tiananmen.


6. (C) Personally, we have found the generally
unpretentious Li to blow hot and cold. In his more
relaxed, candid moments, he has queried us about U.S.

SHENYANG 00000045 002 OF 002


domestic politics and perceptions of China's leaders; he
has also conceded that Heilongjiang's development is "too
slow" and griped that Beijing is sucking away too much of
the province's revenue stream (ref B). Li claimed to us
that while in Hebei during the 1990s, he developed a good
working relationship with Li Keqiang (then posted to
Henan),though the present status of this relationship is
unclear. At 58, Li is on the slightly older side compared
to someone like Li Keqiang (and incoming PS Ji Bingxuan).
With a number of years remaining before retirement,
however, and given his multi-provincial experience and
potentially useful political ties, we would not discount a
modest further rise.


7. (SBU) DU JIAHAO. Replacing Li Zhanshu, one of
Heilongjiang's biggest promotions over the past year
involved another fast-riser from out of town: DU Jiahao, a
52-year-old Youth Leaguer from East China who in late 2007
catapulted from his post as Party Secretary of Shanghai's
Pudong District--a showcase of the city's economic
development--to Executive Vice Governor of Heilongjiang.
(One explanation for the major promotion is the need to
bring in new out-of-province blood to continue reforming
Heilongjiang's leadership in the wake of massive corruption
scandals that PS Qian Yunlu was brought in from Guizhou to
mop up.) Du rose through the ranks of the Shanghai
municipal government in the 1980s and 1990s, eventually
working his way up to become Secretary General of the
Shanghai government in 2003 and finally, in 2004, PS of
Pudong. Du will be working with Li Zhanshu to prod along
the "revitalization" of the province, which has finally
started to pick up momentum in pursuit of front-runner
Liaoning Province, even though massive challenges remain.
Heilongjiang will be a major adjustment from Shanghai and
should prove challenging for Du.


8. (C) LONG XINNAN. Another up-and-comer to watch is LONG
Xinnan, who since 2005 has captained Heilongjiang's
Organization Bureau, where he has played an influential
role in doling out cadre assignments. Turning 54 this
year, Long is a "princeling"; he is the son of LONG Feihu,
former deputy chief of the Fuzhou Military Command.
Starting in the late 1970s, Long logged over two decades of
central-level work in Beijing, eventually rising to head
the personnel departments at both the State Development
Planning Commission and the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) before moving to Heilongjiang in 2004.
Though rumored at one point last year to be headed back to
a high-level NDRC position in Beijing, contacts say he
appears to be staying put for now. We have found Long
impressive and down-to-earth in meetings and expect he will
continue his rise in Beijing following this stint in the
provinces.


9. (SBU) ZHANG XIAOLIAN. At 43, Zhang Xiaolian--a plain-
talking Youth Leaguer from Shandong and now Mayor of
Harbin--is the youngest of the lot, and according to Harbin
officials, the youngest mayor of a Chinese provincial
capital. Zhang's deep experience in the Beijing Youth
League during the 1990s (during which he claims to have
developed a good relationship with Li Keqiang, then head of
the national CYL) served him well and quickly propelled him
up the ranks of the Beijing municipal government through

2005. He then headed to Heilongjiang--part of a cohort of
90 officials sent by the central government to help
"revitalize" northeast China--where an assistantship to
then-Governor Zhang Zuoji paid off, earning him the Party-
chief slot in Mudanjiang od, in very short order, the job
of Harbin Mayor in early 2007.


10. (C) In private, we have found Zhang, who has studied
abroad at Harvard, a polished, impressive figure who seems
divorced in mindset from most provincial officials here.
Zhang openly laments Heilongjiang's remoteness, claiming he
has experienced trouble attracting talented officials to
Harbin. He brags that his Youth League background still
serves him well when he comes to Beijing, earning him
better treatment than that of a typical municipal mayor.
One potential weakness may be his candor or, perhaps, ego;
during one meal with us, he made subordinates clearly
uncomfortable when regaling us with a joke whose butt was
former Premier Li Peng. Either way, Zhang looks set to
continue his quick rise back in the central government once
he wraps up his work in Heilongjiang, perhaps even after a
new stint as a vice governor.
WICKMAN