Corruption scandals have the descendants of revolutionary heroes on the defensive
“The battle against corruption,” warned General Liu Yuan, “has become a life and death struggle.” “I would rather die,” he said, “than surrender in this battle.”
Only days after General Liu delivered his speech to 600 officers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Chinese New Year's Day in January, the influential Political Commissar of the PLA's General Logistics Department made sure his audience knew he meant every word.
A corruption crackdown led by General Liu snared a senior official of the notoriously corrupt PLA Logistics Department, Lieutenant General Gu Junshan, who would become the highest-ranked PLA officer to be dismissed over corruption allegations in recent years.
In his speech, General Liu said he was “not afraid of losing my position in this fight”. “No matter how high your position is and how strong your background is,” he said, “I won't give up easily.”
General Liu's high-profile anti-corruption campaign has drawn wide attention ahead of this year's once-in-a-decade leadership transition, which will see sweeping changes across the highest levels of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the government and the military.
One reason for the attention is that corruption has been flagged in recent speeches by top leaders, from President Hu Jintao to his anointed successor, Vice-President Xi Jinping, as the biggest challenge the party faces.
Another is General Liu's own background. His father, Liu Shaoqi, served as China's head of state from 1959 until 1968, when he was purged during the decade-long Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Liu died in a prison cell after suffering brutal treatment and humiliation at the hands of Mao Zedong's Red Guards.
As the CPC prepares to usher in a new generation of leaders, the increasingly prominent role played by the children of former leaders — the Second Red Generation, or hongerdai as they are known in China — has come into the spotlight.
Most prominent among them is Mr. Xi himself, who will succeed Hu Jintao as the party's General Secretary at the 18th Party Congress which will be held later this year. Another is the former Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai — a childhood friend and long-term associate of General Liu — who was expected to play an influential role among the next generation of leadership before his sudden fall from power earlier this year.
The corruption allegations targeting Mr. Bo that have been leaked into the state media have painted a negative picture of the second Red generation, prompting a response from some of its members who are keen to clear their names and prevent their Red legacy from being tarnished by others in their generation. “Social problems are very prominent. Some corrupt officials have damaged the Party's reputation. We truly worry a little that the power gained by our elder generations through hardship will collapse and be taken away in a day,” Chen Renkang, the son of Chen Shiju who was, like Mr. Bo's father Bo Yibo, a prominent founding revolutionary figure, was quoted as saying by the Nanfengchuang magazine last week.
“If the country is not well-managed and well-treated, this is entirely possible. This has been shown throughout history,” he said, in remarks that were reproduced by the Party-run Global Times newspaper in a rare story in its English-language edition on Friday on the hongerdai — usually a taboo topic for state media.
“We, of the second generation, have a common personality, a shared sense of responsibility. We all want to make some contributions,” added Lu Tongyu, the son of another prominent general, Lu Zhengcao.
The younger Mr. Lu, last month, brought together 800 members of the hongerdai to discuss the country's problems. Many similar events have also been held in Beijing, with other children of leaders voicing concerns over corruption — and particularly, the excesses of some fellow hongerdai. “The original Party members fought for the people, not for themselves,” Ji Pomin, son of the former Vice-Premier, Ji Dengkui, told the Global Times. “The Party must now serve the people. Power doesn't belong to one single family and cannot be kept from generation to generation.”
Keywords: General Liu Yuan, PLA corruption
Oh! How one wishes that such a change is brought about in India too to rid the nation of Corruption and the corrupt politicians, bureaucrats,Police brass,and the judiciary.A new generation has to rise and work with a single minded purpose to fight this malaise and also to put an end to Dynastic Rule.Political leaders are treating parties,constituencies,legislature seats as inheritances.They should be shown that they cannot lay claim just because their parents were in power.This handing down a seat to a total novice as a reward for the parent's or relation's services to the party should be stopped.But then,If Only Wishes Were Horses!
The new generation of China has two role models before them. One is the liberal face of China that has delivered them a lot public goods and made China an internationally influential entity matching the old world powers. The other face is of the traditionalists who believe that liberalism has crept into the system too much and it needs to be beaten back for the national integrity of China. These are no unique situations, in fact, they reflect a classical dilemma before a fast growing nation how balance the two acts, which have their own merit. The time for house keeping is still a question as the young generation is too impatient to strike connectivity with the West and they would certainly not like to make a trade off. Whereas the older generation is worried to make it now, otherwise they might be written off by fast changing global politics. Most of the solutions emerge from state and society discourse, provided Chinese state allows these discourses to flourish democratically.
The revolutionary leadership all over the world promised the cadre/foot soldiers-a great dream- a dream where equality,prosperity,dignity etc. are assured?But after almost 100 years of left revolutionary struggles-what are the lessons for the intelligent children of working class people? You can not separate END from MEANS? Both are embedded in the wholistic total?There is a need for commitment of the highest order to humanity,life and dharma (or commitment to the agreed principles).One can question the old order which may be troublesome and inefficient,but the leadership should be clear where they are driving the public/supporters and ensure proper systems and processes are in place to steer in the broad vision embarked upon.This is true of all emanicipative methods in all systems involving huge mass of public.
General Liu Yuan ought to realize that the very nature of totalitarian regimes is to be extremely corrupt and there nothing he can do about it. George Orwell in his greatest all time classic 'Animal Farm' an allegory of the communist regimes. Orwell elegantly brings out that totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state seeks to control every facet of life, from economics and politics to the each individual's ideas and beliefs. Different totalitarian states have different justifications for their rule. Perhaps if General Liu Yuan means business he could arrange the Chinese version of the book Animal Farm distributed widely throughout China to enable people to understand great irony of 'how the high ideals that fuel revolutions gradually give way to individual and class self-interest'.
A neatly written piece. Articles like this would help us understand what exactly is happening behind the Wall.
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