Strike Two: Communist Youth League ‘aristocracy’ under fire again

High-flying former and serving Communist Youth League officials have again come under attack, with a party mouthpiece describing them on Tuesday as a group of ambitious aristocrats without the calibre to lead the country.

Capitalnews, a WeChat account operated by Beijing Daily, the official newspaper of the party’s Beijing municipal committee, warned cadres with youth league backgrounds that they would face “rough weather” after several scandals compounded the leadership’s resentment over their “self-serving” attitude.

It is the second time in less than a week that the league, once the cradle for promising young cadres and future political high-fliers, has come in for public criticism. Releasing the results of a two-month inspection of the league late on Thursday, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection accused many officials with league backgrounds as being overly bureaucratic and self-serving.

READ MORE: Communist ‘aristocrats’: Party watchdog takes aim at ‘self-serving’ youth league cadres

Capitalnews referred to several one-time youth league officials who fell from grace over corruption.

They included former Guangzhou party boss Wan Qingliang, former Inner Mongolian vice-chairman Pan Yiyang, former Nanning party secretary Yu Yuanhui, and Zhang Lebin, former deputy director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.

“Wan Qingliang’s case of bribe-taking wasn’t rare among youth league officials,” the Capitalnews article said. “Lots of youth league cadres appeared to be ambitious and aimed for higher positions.”

The league, a power base for former president Hu Jintao, has been regarded as a springboard for top state leaders and ministry-level officials for the past decade. Premier Li Keqiang, Vice-President Li Yuanchao, and Guangdong party boss Hu Chunhua all rose through the youth league’s ranks and went on to higher office.