Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHENGDU101
2009-06-10 04:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Consulate Chengdu
Cable title:  

SOUTHWEST CHINA: SICHUAN WORKER LAMENTS PARTY AND PLA

Tags:  PGOV SOCI MCAP CH 
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ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 100407Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3251
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 3924
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000101 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/10/2034
TAGS: PGOV SOCI MCAP CH
SUBJECT: SOUTHWEST CHINA: SICHUAN WORKER LAMENTS PARTY AND PLA
CORRUPTION

CHENGDU 00000101 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General, Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)



C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000101

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/10/2034
TAGS: PGOV SOCI MCAP CH
SUBJECT: SOUTHWEST CHINA: SICHUAN WORKER LAMENTS PARTY AND PLA
CORRUPTION

CHENGDU 00000101 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: James A. Boughner, Consul General, U.S. Consulate
General, Chengdu.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary: A 55-year old worker in the southern Sichuan
city of Xichang vented to us recently about how the Communist
Party had ruined his life, chronic corruption in Xichang,
bribery in the People's Liberation Army, and the arrogance of
the Party/government elite that wastes resources on big "face"
projects in order to look good to superiors. The worker also
described how he bribed the local People's Armed Forces
Department 25,000 Renminbi (roughly USD 3700) two years ago to
enable his son to enlist in the military and is getting together
another 20,000 RMB bribe so his son will be allowed to re-enlist
in a PLA engineering unit in Henan Province. Bribes also help
soldiers join the Communist Party and advance in rank. Quite
open in his complaints, the worker nevertheless said he was
"optimistic" about the prospects for a brighter future for his
sons. End summary.

Thank You, Party: Stunted by Famine, Denied Education by
Cultural Revolution
-------------- --------------
--------------


2. (C) During an informal discussion with Congenoff, a
55-year-old laid off factory worker in Xichang, capital of
Liangshan Prefecture in southern Sichuan Province and home to
one of China's rocket launching sites, noted: "You want to know
what I think of the Communist Party? I was about seven years
old during the so-called "years of natural disasters" (1959 -
1962) that were of course caused completely by the `stupid
policies' of the Communist Party. Then I worked on the
construction of the Chengdu - Kunming railway line under
terrible conditions. Workers without protection were cut up by
sharp stones all over their bodies, including their eyes. Then
came the Cultural Revolution, so I lost my chance at getting a
higher education!"

Resources Primarily Directed at Face Projects that Benefit
Officials and Elite
-------------- --------------
--------------


3. (C) According to the worker, corruption is rife in Xichang.
He remarked, "the courts are dark places" -- it all depends upon

who has access to an official. Sometimes people lose their
homes. Congenoff mentioned an 80-year old Xichang women he had
talked to that same day who had signs plastered on her shop and
small vending stand denouncing a local party secretary who had
stolen her home of thirty years to give his mistress a place to
live. The worker commented that that kind of story is not
unusual. There is a saying, he added, that in the courts, "the
judge eats both the plaintiff and the defendant." Officials
waste much money on "face projects" designed to impress higher
officials.


4. (C) Pointing to the newly-built walking street lined with
fashionable shops across from where we were sitting, the worker
remarked, "this is something that people in America like but it
isn't what people here need. Where are the street vendors?
Officials build projects like this to impress their superiors
that they have made Xichang look `modern.'" Another local man
in his thirties who joined in the conversation agreed with the
worker's points, adding that the Chengdu - Xichang highway
(scheduled for completion in 2011) might benefit the elites but
not ordinary people. (Note: Sichuan's Liangshan Prefecture,
home to the minority Yi people, is one of the poorest areas of
the province. The prefectural capital Xichang is a
predominantly Han city with most of the Yi who live there are
highly assimilated and speak their own language only at home.
Congenoff's interlocutor was Han Chinese. End note).


5. (C) One prime example of a big face project to make local
officials look good, the worker continued, is a very large red
brick plaza at the edge of a city. The plaza has 56 huge
pillars each representing one of China's 56 nationalities. The
worker noted how former Xichang Party Secretary Wu Qingping
(11/2006 - 3/2009),now party secretary of Mianyang City in
Sichuan, had criticized this particular project as a "waste."
Instead, Wu had focused on such potentially more useful projects
as developing the area around the Qionghai, a scenic fresh water
lake nestled against temple-topped mountains, as a tourist area.
Development projects in general, however, serve primarily the
interests of the Party and local government officials.

Bribing Local Armed Forces Department and PLA Jilin Military
Region Officers

CHENGDU 00000101 002.2 OF 002


-------------- --------------
--------------


6. (C) The laid off worker discussed his family which has a
rural household registration even though they live in Xichang.
He referred to his wife as a "sturdy peasant women," who is much
better at "eating bitterness" than he and willingly puts up with
his daily vented frustrations. She prepares food in a school
cafeteria. His elder son, he noted approvingly, recently gave
up a better paying job for one at a third less pay that however
gives him much greater opportunities to learn marketable skills.
His younger son has worried him more. A big good-natured boy,
he didn't like school, studied martial arts and enjoyed fights.
Worried his son would fall into bad company, the worker bribed
the local People's Armed Forces Department (wuzhuangbu) to get
his son an enlistment in the PLA.


7. (C) The worker remarked, "I think of the PLA as a kind of
concentration camp for immature kids to give them a few years to
grow up so that later they can better withstand the evil
influences in society. According to the worker, since he has a
rural registration, he only had to pay 25,000 RMB to the local
Armed Forces Department to get his son an enlistment. His son
now works for an engineering unit (gongchengbing) in Henan
Province in the Jilin Military Region where he has won awards
for being an outstanding soldier. He added that parents with an
urban registration have to pay more, about 30,000 - 50,000 RMB
(USD 4400 - 7400),to buy an enlistment since the local
government later finds government jobs for former soldiers with
urban registrations.


8. (C) According to the worker, in the Jilin Military Region in
Henan, military families arrange favors (not necessarily
monetary) for influential people in exchange for a soldier to
gain admission to the Communist Party or to advance in rank. He
added that, if the soldier's father is a high ranking official
such as a mayor, then a bribe is not necessary, but it certainly
is for "ordinary people." Despite his son's awards, a bribe
will have to be paid so that he can re-enlist. The worker is
preparing to spend another 20,000 RMB to bribe the local Armed
Forces Department to get his son a re-enlistment in the PLA.
The worker said that he can't pay the bribe directly since it
would then be refused, but instead must send it through an
intermediary. Parents who want their daughter to join the PLA
need to pay 80,000 to 100,000 RMB since there are fewer slots in
the PLA for women.

Still Hopeful for Sons' Futures
--------------


9. (C) The worker is now employed at the Xichang City Labor and
Social Security Bureau office with officials who make ten times
his monthly salary of 500 RMB. He claimed he tries to avoid
talking with moneyed government and Party officials because of
their "condescending attitudes." He observed that, for many
years his frustrations with the system made him withdrawn. Now
however, as he sees prospects of a good life opening up for his
two sons, the worker is feeling more "optimistic."

Comments
--------------


10. (C) The worker originally came up to Congenoff while he was
talking with an Yi minority woman near the fanciest shopping
district in Xichang. The worker said he had never before
encountered a foreigner who speaks Chinese and so apparently
found discussing Xichang interesting. Congenoff did not talk
with other people about corruption in the military, but found
one piece of indirect evidence --- the sign on the front
entrance of the Xichang Military Subdistrict Headquarters (not
on the city map) had another sign, Xichang Trading Company
(Xichang Maoyi Gongsi),of equal size right next to it.
Xichang's mild climate now attracts wealthy Sichuanese to build
vacation homes. When the new highway is completed and cuts
Chengdu - Xichang travel time in half, the boom may attract more
individuals hoping to trade political power for economic
advantage.
BOUGHNER