VZCZCXRO2829
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGZ #0355/01 1590903
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080903Z JUN 09
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0673
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0510
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0118
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 0128
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0115
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0162
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC 0172
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC 0168

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GUANGZHOU 000355 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV CH
SUBJECT: Corruption Shake-Up Spreads to Shenzhen Mayor 
 
Ref: A) GUANGZHOU 318 
 
(U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly.  Not for release outside U.S. government channels.  Not 
for internet publication. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Corruption allegations have brought down Shenzhen 
Mayor Xu Zongheng.   Xu's downfall, part of a series of 
investigations that are shaking up the political leadership of 
Guangdong, which included the removal of former Guangdong Chinese 
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Chair Chen 
Shaoji, further weakens entrenched interests in the province.  Hong 
Kong media speculate that Shenzhen Party Secretary Liu Yupu will 
replace Chen as Guangdong CPPCC Chair.  End summary. 
 
Another One Bites the Dust 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Corruption investigations have claimed another victim among 
Guangdong Province's political elite.  Hong Kong media are reporting 
that Shenzhen Mayor Xu Zongheng has been arrested and is under 
intense interrogation on allegations that he accepted bribes.  After 
widespread reporting in Hong Kong over the weekend, mainland media 
only confirmed the investigation late in the day Monday with a terse 
one-sentence report released by Xinhua.  Xu reportedly accepted 
massive bribes from contacts in his native Hunan Province for 
construction contracts on Shenzhen infrastructure development 
projects, including the subway, highways, public apartment buildings 
and sports facilities for the International University Games-Summer 
Universidades, which Shenzhen will host in 2011. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Unlike most Shenzhen mayors, Xu long lived and worked in 
the city.  Arriving there from Hunan in 1993, he is practically a 
local in a city dominated by migrants from other parts of China. 
His downfall further weakens entrenched local political interests as 
does the recent case of Chen Shaoji (reftel).  As head of the 
Shenzhen Organizational Department from 2000 to 2003, Xu was 
responsible for the appointments of many current officials in 
Shenzhen.  His removal will strengthen central government control 
over the city. 
 
Others Implicated 
----------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to Xu, several other Shenzhen officials are 
also currently under investigation.  Vice Mayor Yan Xiaopei, a 
member of the China Zhi Gong Party, has been accused of corruption 
related to her work overseeing the city's urban planning agencies. 
In addition, Hong Kong media report that another unconfirmed senior 
Shenzhen official, likely Shenzhen Municipal Government Secretary 
General Li Ping, is under investigation. 
 
Who's Moving Up? 
---------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Various sources have recently speculated that the 
leadership vacuum in Shenzhen will soon be even larger because 
Shenzhen Party Secretary Liu Yupu will replace the recently ousted 
Chen Shaoji as Guangdong China People's Political Consultative 
Conference chair.  A Shandong native, Liu became Shenzhen Party 
Secretary in January 2008.  Previously, he spent four years as 
Guangdong deputy party secretary and president of the Guangdong 
Party School.  Before coming to Guangdong in 2000 to serve as 
Standing Committee member and director general of the Organizational 
Department of the GD CPC, Liu was vice governor of Shaanxi 
Province. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Possible candidates mentioned in Hong Kong media reports to 
replace Liu as municipal party secretary include: 
 
--Lin Xiong, Standing Committee member and director general of the 
Propaganda Department of the Guangdong Communist Party of China (GD 
CPC).  Lin was reportedly a secretary to Wen Jiabao. 
 
--Hu Zejun, Standing Committee member and director general of the 
Organization Department of the GD CPC.  Previously, a vice minister 
in the Ministry of Justice, Hu came to Guangdong in 2004. 
 
--Jiang Zelin, Standing Committee member of the Hainan CPC and party 
secretary of the Sanya Municipal CPC.  Originally from Anhui 
Province, Jiang previously served as Hainan vice governor. 
 
One possible candidate identified as a replacement for Xu as 
Shenzhen mayor is Shenzhen vice Mayor Xu Qin.  Xu arrived in 
 
GUANGZHOU 00000355  002 OF 002 
 
 
Shenzhen last year from the State Development Reform Commission in 
Beijing. 
 
GOLDBERG