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R 240329Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL SHENYANG
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INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC 0176
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHENYANG 000075 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/23/2019 
TAGS: CH ECON PGOV PINR
SUBJECT: STARS QUIETLY ON THE RISE IN JILIN AND HEILONGJIANG 
 
REF: A. BEIJING 614 
     ¶B. 08 SHENYANG 44 
     ¶C. 08 SHENYANG 45 
 
Classified By: Consul General Stephen B. Wickman.  Reasons 1.4(b/d). 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The unique arrangement of Jilin Province's 
Governor Han Changfu and Party Secretary (PS) Wang Min's 
reversed roles continues to garner success for the poorest 
of China's Northeast provinces.  Farther north, 
Heilongjiang's 
Ji Bingxuan is now firmly ensconced in his role as PS and 
actively advocating for a fair share in the economic stimulus 
package.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C) This is the second in a two-part series on leadership 
dynamics in northeast China over the past year, with a 
particular emphasis on rising stars likely bound for higher, 
possibly national, office.  Part one focuses on Liaoning, 
part two on Jilin and Heilongjiang Provinces. 
 
JILIN GOVERNOR AND PS DELIVER THE GOODS, QUIETLY 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
¶3. (C) Jilin Governor Han Changfu enjoyed a stable and 
productive 2008.  As noted in our previous round-up, Jilin's 
leadership dynamic is unique in the Northeast (Ref A.)  PS 
Wang Min functions more like a governor, focusing on 
economic development and attracting investment in the 
province, while Governor Han Changfu acts like a party 
secretary, concentrating on political issues, such as 
improving 
livelihoods and loyalty to the Communist Party.  In 2008, 
Han burnished his credentials by scoring a RMB 26 billion 
project over the 2008-12 period to boost grain production. 
Han, as former Deputy Minister of Agriculture, undoubtedly 
used his old contacts to secure the funding (Ref A.) 
 
¶4. (C) PS Wang Min, widely known for developing the "Suzhou 
Model" of development, spent the year heading delegations to 
the Pearl River Delta, the Yangtze River Delta, Hong Kong, 
and Southeast Asia proudly importing billions of dollars 
of investment into Jilin.  Wang further enhanced Jilin's 
cooperation with Hong Kong and Taiwan by meeting with Donald 
Tseng and Chen Yunlin - although back home he reportedly 
defers to Han to meet "foreign" dignitaries.  Wang's 
business promoting activities are different than Liaoning 
Governor Chen Zhenggao.  While Chen brags about his 
visionary FDI imports, many of which are really the work of 
others, Wang and Han are quieter in delivering tangible FDI 
results.  Feedback from local Jilin officials regarding Wang 
and Han's performance are all positive.  Wang, 59, has six 
years to go before his retirement and is expected to be 
promoted soon, though rumors that he would move to the 
Central Government as the Minister of Commerce in early 2008 
failed to materialize. 
 
THE ORGANIZATIONAL DEPARTMENT: ANOTHER PATHWAY TO SUCCESS? 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
¶5. (C) Wang Songhe was chosen to be Jilin's Director of 
Organizational Department in 2004.  Wang worked at the 
national level as Communist Youth League (CYL) Deputy 
Director and Director of the Central Financial Committee's 
Organizational Committee between 1988 and 1998.  No stranger 
to the field of organizational work, Wang and Long Xinnan 
(Director of the Heilongjiang Organizational Department) 
differ in style from the usual organizational chiefs who 
normally shy away from the press.  Wang's slogan in Jilin is 
"improving transparency of cadre selection and promotion." 
Even though it is commonly believed that Wang replaces Lu 
Peijun, former Chief of the Political Department of General 
Administration of Customs, Wang is listed ahead of Lu on the 
General Administration's leadership chart, thereby outranking 
Lu, a senior veteran customs professional.  Considering his 
CYL background, Wang's promotion to the Deputy Director and 
Chief of the Political Department of General Administration 
of 
Customs might be a step on his way to CPC's leading core. 
 
HEILONGJIANG PS: MASTER OF PROPAGANDA 
------------------------------------- 
¶6. (C) As the Party tycoon of Heilongjiang Province, Ji 
Bingxuan has fully lived up to his reputation as a master of 
propaganda.  Since his arrival in April 2008, Ji has 
peppered his stump speeches and remarks with even more 
central party political sloganeering than usual, even when 
talking about exclusively economic development issues. 
Calls for loyalty to the party and studying the latest 
"spirits" of the central leadership are the usual emphases 
of his speeches and hearken back to Ji's central propaganda 
department days.  Peking University Professor Jiao Guobiao, 
for example, strongly condemned the Central Propaganda 
 
SHENYANG 00000075  002 OF 002 
 
 
Department during Ji's tenure as Director.  When Ji was 
Executive Deputy Director, he was infamous for the "25 bans" 
put in place at the end of 2003.  At that time, Ji banned 
any reporting of the detention of the Director of Yunnan 
Propaganda Department because it might damage the 
Department's "image."  Ji nevertheless won the favor of the 
central leadership for his unshakeable loyalty to the party 
and, for his pains, was handpicked to lead Heilongjiang. 
 
HEILONGJIANG GOVERNOR FOLLOWS AN ARDUOUS PATH 
--------------------------------------------- 
¶7. (C) Li Zhanshu's political career has been difficult. 
In the 1990s, Li was persecuted by Li Zhen, the now-demised 
secretary of then-Hebei Province PS Chen Weigao (himself 
disciplined in 2003.)  As a result, Li is at least eight 
years behind by his fellow CYL contemporaries on the 
promotion track.  In late 2003, Li was sent to Heilongjiang 
as Deputy Party Secretary and candidate for the top slot. 
Following a major local corruption scandal, however, the 
central party committee deployed Qian Yunlu to clean up the 
mess instead.  Following Qian's departure and Ji Bingxuan's 
arrival, Li received the governorship as a consolation prize 
(Li joked with us when we met him for the first time in 2007 
that he holds the record as the longest-serving vice 
governor in the country, having had that post three times in 
three different provinces.) 
 
¶8. (C) Li's reputation in Heilongjiang is solid.  He told 
local officials "my motto is hard work and no persecution" 
and that he and Qian delivered the goods.  Nearing the end 
of his career, Li has to work one more step up before his 
retirement.  In early January, there were rumors in the Hong 
Kong press that Li would be moved to Shanxi Province as 
Party Secretary for his outstanding performance in 
controlling coal mine disasters in Heilongjiang. 
 
OTHER HEILONGJIANG NOTABLES: YANG HUANNING AND SUN YONGBO 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
¶9. (C) Yang Huanning, Heilongjiang's former head of Public 
Security and now back at central headquarters, is certain to 
take a high central government position and by some accounts 
already has (there was no official press coverage of his 
resignation from Heilongjiang.)  A veteran anti-terrorist 
expert, he was called back to the Ministry of Public 
Security to prepare for Beijing's Olympic Games.  Yang was 
the Executive Deputy Minister of the Ministry when he 
escorted 
Minister Zhou Yongkang during Zhou's trip to Sichuan in 
June 2008.  The Ministry of Public Security's official 
website 
says he has been the Executive Deputy Minister since May 2008. 
 
¶10. (C) Sun Yongbo, former Assistant to Minister of Public 
Security, was sent to Heilongjiang as Yang Huanning's 
replacement.  Yang contributed greatly to Heilongjiang's 
social stability as Heilongjiang's Secretary of the 
Political and Judiciary Commission 2005-2008.  Sun has CYL 
background as the Ministry of Public Security's CYL Deputy 
Secretary.  Sun, appointed the Deputy Governor and Director 
of Public Security Bureau since July 2008, helped the 
province improve its social stability, particularly during 
the recent Winter Universiade.  After Sun's arrival, the 
province carried out a series of anti-crime campaigns 
leading up to, during, and after the Olympics.  The most 
noticeable was a joint campaign among all three provinces in 
Northeast China and Inner Mongolia to capture fugitives. 
According to the Heilongjiang Daily, the number of serious 
criminal cases in 2008 decreased 13.5 percent from 2007.  It 
is likely that Sun's future lies outside Heilongjiang.  His 
move to the province signals the central government's desire 
to improve Heilongjiang's social stability, and for Sun, 
this is an opportunity to prove his worth. 
WICKMAN