October 26, 2006
China’s Corruption Inquiry Targets Beijing Leaders
By JOSEPH KAHN
BEIJING, Oct. 26 — A widening Chinese anti-corruption probe has targeted Beijing’s party leaders, a sign that President Hu Jintao intends to continue removing officials he considers insufficiently loyal, people told about the leadership’s planning said. Some 300 Communist Party investigators have been examining property deals and procurement practices in the capital city since at least late September and have uncovered suspicious dealings that implicate top Chinese leaders, the people said.
Among those seen as likely targets of the inquiry are Jia Qinglin, a member of the nine-member Politburo Standing Committee and a former party secretary of Beijing, as well as the current Beijing party secretary, Liu Qi, who is a regular member of the Politburo.
If the investigation results in the removal of one or both of the men, it would make the ongoing housecleaning the most sweeping since the shake-up after the 1989 suppression of democracy protests.
In September, security forces detained Chen Liangyu, the party chief of Shanghai and another Politburo member. They also removed numerous Shanghai officials from office and arrested or sidelined leaders in Tianjin, Fujian and Hunan, among other places.
Nearly all of those implicated to date are viewed as loyalists to China’s former top leader, Jiang Zemin, or as having resisted the policies of Mr. Hu, the party boss since 2002.
As such, the ongoing crackdown serves two purposes, people told about the leadership’s goals say. Mr. Hu and Zeng Qinghong, the vice president and the day-to-day coordinator of Communist Party affairs, have sought to warn underlings that they intend to punish corruption, widely seen as a worsening problem within the ruling party, even at the highest levels.
But the two leaders have also signaled that only those they consider political allies will have the power to resist probes into their financial affairs. That message seems designed to shore up support as the party prepares to undergo its five-yearly political transition with the convening of the 17th Party Congress next fall.
The party leaders of Beijing and Shanghai, large urban enclaves that control great wealth and enjoy broad autonomy, have traditionally also served on the ruling Politburo. No major investigations of their activities are likely to take place without prior approval of the top-most leaders.
Mr. Hu has recently worked hand-in-hand with Mr. Zeng, the No. 5 ranking leader who is also viewed as one of Mr. Hu’s possible rivals, to consolidate power. Though China’s one-party system concentrates authority in the hands of Mr. Hu, he must also navigate personal, regional and institutional allegiances that can make it difficult to implement decisions made in Zhongnanhai, the leadership compound.
The probe has significant policy implications. The economies of both Beijing and Shanghai, fueled partly by state-directed investment and rapid real estate development, have grown faster than the national average rate at a time when Mr. Hu has sought to reduce speculative investment and stabilize soaring property prices.
One concern is that China remains too vulnerable to boom-bust economic cycles. If today’s double-digit growth rates tumble, the resulting slowdown could threaten social stability and the ruling party’s hold on power.
Mr. Hu’s drive to build a "harmonious society" aims to steer more state resources into underdeveloped parts of the economy, including rural areas, rather than supporting frothy investment in the wealthiest cities.
At the same time, Mr. Hu has appealed for calm and sought to show that he remains on good terms with Mr. Jiang, the predecessor he pushed from his final post, as head of the military, in 2004.
Mr. Hu and Mr. Jiang appeared together at the Great Hall of the People last weekend to mark the 70th anniversary of the Long March. Mr. Hu delivered a speech that emphasized the "unity of the whole party."
Party officials said that although the probe has mainly targeted people considered part of Mr. Jiang’s ruling circle, the retired leader has been consulted about the need to control corruption and no longer has the power to resist even if he chose to do so.
The current crackdown began in June, when a Beijing vice mayor, Liu Zhihua, was removed from his post after being accused of leading a "dissolute lifestyle." People told about the charges said they included misusing state funds and maintaining luxurious homes where he entertained mistresses and call girls.
There has been no announcement in the state media about further investigations in Beijing. The Beijing mayor, Wang Qishan, recently dismissed speculation about stepped up inquiries in the capital city as "nonsense."
But two people told about the leadership’s planning said that top officials have ordered a renewed anti-corruption push here. The most likely targets are Mr. Liu, the party chief, and Mr. Jia, the standing committee member, they said.
Mr. Jia, a longtime loyalist of Mr. Jiang, has been dogged by allegations that he presided over rampant corruption in areas that he supervised. He was party secretary of Fujian province in the early and mid-1990s. Mr. Jiang moved him to head the Beijing party apparatus in 1996. He was elevated to the Politburo Standing Committee in 2002.
Mr. Jia, 66, still supervises the affairs of Beijing in addition to his responsibilities as head of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress, which manages the party’s relations with non-party social interests, such as business leaders and religious groups.
Mr. Liu replaced Mr. Jia as party secretary and is thought to answer mainly to him.
The ultimate goal of investigating Beijing’s affairs may be to incapacitate Mr. Jia politically so that he cannot exercise much sway during the intensive jockeying for positions and power that precedes the party congress, people told about the planning said.
But any broader crackdown in the capital poses some risks for China because Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics, an event the leadership views as confirmation of the country’s rise as a global power and as a chance to display China’s best face to the outside world.
Mr. Liu manages the tens of billions of dollars invested in Olympics-related venues, infrastructure and urban improvements. Leaders are eager to show that any corrupt activities in Beijing do not involve the Olympics and that planning for the event remains on track.
People told about the leadership’s planning say Mr. Liu may retain his position as head of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympic Games even if he is replaced as party secretary. It is the latter post that carries significant political clout.
If Mr. Jia were removed or forced to resign, he would likely be the first person ousted from the elite body for corruption since the Communist Party took power in 1949.
Mao purged several members of the Politburo Standing Committee during his long reign. The most recent case was that of Zhao Ziyang, the party’s general secretary, who was ousted by Deng Xiaoping in 1989 for opposing the crackdown on student-led democracy protests that year.
Some party officials and political observers think Mr. Hu would be reluctant to confirm that corruption extends to the top ruling body. They say it is more likely that any evidence gathered against Mr. Jia would be used to push him into retirement in 2007 and to reduce his political influence in the meantime.