Zhou Enlai's niece urges President Xi Jinping to persist with anti-graft campaign
Zhou Enlai's niece insists that president's efforts will bring country hope
President Xi Jinping must persist with his anti-graft campaign or "the country has no hope", according to the niece of the People's Republic's first premier, Zhou Enlai.
In an interview with the , 77-year-old Zhou Bingde criticised some cadres' luxurious lifestyles and expressed strong support for Xi's anti-corruption campaign, which is sweeping through the government, state-owned enterprises and the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
"The vested-interest groups he has targeted are, of course, not happy, and they will put up resistance. But common people hope he can be persistent," said Zhou. "He has to carry on to the end so that our country can have hope." Speaking of the recent string of corruption cases within the PLA, Zhou said "corruption in the army is a disaster to a country".
Zhou praised General Liu Yuan , son of late president Liu Shaoqi and political commissar of the PLA's General Logistics Department, for tackling army corruption.
"I am grateful to him. He was brave," said Zhou.
Since Zhou and his wife did not have children, Zhou Bingde moved into the premier's home in the Zhongnanhai leadership compound. She grew up with the couple and lived with them until she was married.
As a "princeling" herself, Zhou is against people who count on their privileged background to get involved in politics.
"It's a phenomenon that still exists widely, but it's not right," she said. "It's a regressive step and a setback for our society."
According to public records, the only political position Zhou held was as a member of the national committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Zhou said that in the old days her uncle insisted that his relatives be given hard work and modest pay.
"My salary was the lowest in my company, and that was my only income," said Zhou, adding that she did not know why civil servants today complained about their salaries after the anti-graft campaign cut off all hidden income.
Zhou Bingde worked as the deputy chief of the China News Service in the 1990s. With her extensive experience in media, she is highly critical of the luxury and prestige enjoyed by TV stations in today's China, especially the expensive outfits of TV hosts.
On Monday, Zhou attended a preview of a TV documentary on her uncle, who died eight months before Mao Zedong in 1976. Over the weekend, she participated in a conference marking the founding in 1924 of the Whampoa Military Academy, where her uncle worked.
"If you don't regulate your own behaviour, the society you rule won't be stable," she said. "It's important to adjust behaviour from the top down."
