SOUTHWEST CHINA: SICHUAN WORKER LAMENTS PARTY AND PLA

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