Strike Two: Communist Youth League ‘aristocracy’ under fire again
Communist Party mouthpiece warns of tough times ahead for ‘self-serving’ cadres who rose up the ranks of Hu Jintao’s former power base
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.
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.
But the fall of Ling Jihua, Hu Jintao’s former top aide, in late 2014 was a watershed moment as the leadership under President Xi Jinping stepped up anti-corruption efforts to clean up the party.
The open attack on officials who cut their teeth in the league comes as power struggles and political jockeying intensify in the run-up to next year’s 19th party congress.
Hu Chunhua, who is also a member of the Politburo, is seen as a top candidate for the next generation of leaders from 2022.
League officials were also accused of forming factions to secure key positions within the party and the government. Xi has launched a massive campaign against factions since the toppling of cadres such as Ling and former security tsar Zhou Yongkang.
Political commentator Zhang Lifan told the South China Morning Post earlier that some officials thought a league background was a fast track to promotion.
Capitalnews said there were exceptions among the league’s ranks but cadres with a league background should work at the grass roots for longer to prove themselves.