Joseph Kahn writes in today’s New York Times that Shanghai Party boss Chen Liangyu has been detained on charges of corruption. Strong Party credentials usually serve as a get out of jail free card for corrupt officials and their friends, so it appears that President Hu Jintao himself stepped in to make an example of Chen and take out a prominent political opponent.
Corruption is, of course, nothing new in the party ranks; the Shanghai cadres take it to another level. Ex-President Jiang Zemin cultivated his credentials there and packed his cabinet– which was later inherited by Hu– with Shanghai cronies who came to be known as the “Shanghai clique.” The Shanghainese presented several problems for Hu as he took over power from Jiang. It was difficult for him to wrest control of the military from the aging Jiang (which he eventually did in the fall of 2004), and he was forced to work with and compete with Politburo members loyal to Hu.
Additionally, Hu has worked to slow the overheating economy by cracking down on infrastructure and real estate growth, which did not go over well with party leaders in Shanghai, who have done their best to ignore him.
It is definitely a positive thing that a high-profile corrupt official has been taken out of power, but corruption is pervasive in China, so the move seems more like a personal take down than a moral stand against corruption.
Published Date: September 25, 2006