Officials tout 'red culture' to cure woes

The revolutionary legacy of the Communist Party has apparently gained more traction in mainland politics, with another senior official pledging his allegiance to the party's orthodox 'red culture'.

In a study session last week, Guangdong Communist Party boss Wang Yang said lessons drawn from the brutal civil war, which saw the defeat of Kuomintang forces by the communist army and the founding of the People's Republic, were still valid in tackling the mainland's mounting social and economic woes.

The remarks by Wang, a rising political star who has earned a name as a reformer, raised eyebrows. They were widely seen by political observers as following a growing political trend of promoting revolutionary culture on the mainland, which was started by one of his rivals in the next top party leadership reshuffle, Chongqing party boss Bo Xilai .

'The book The War of Liberation has underlined the imperatives of history that no other political force in the world can replace people's power,' Wang was quoted by several government-controlled newspapers in Guangdong as saying.

He was referring to the two-volume non-fiction epic of the 1945-49 civil war written by Wang Shuzeng and published last year by the People's Literature Publishing House.

'The only way to garner public support is through serving the people's interest and the only way to earn people's trust is to share happiness and sorrow with the people,' Wang said. He added that deteriorating ties between cadres and the masses have threatened the success of social and economic transformation.