VZCZCXRO1160
PP RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHCN #0296/01 3430826
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 090826Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL CHENGDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3620
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 4333

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CHENGDU 000296 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR SOCI CH
SUBJECT: GUIZHOU: PORTRAIT OF A SELF-PROMOTING COMMUNIST YOUTH LEAGUE 
SECRETARY -- COULD HE BE PROMOTED TO THE NATIONAL LEVEL? 
 
CHENGDU 00000296  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (U) This cable contains sensitive but unclassified 
information - not for distribution on the Internet. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary: At 39 years old, Chen Cangxu has been the 
Secretary of the Guizhou Communist Youth League (GCYL) for the 
last two years.  Over dinner, Chen told Consul General how he 
had leveraged the anti-poverty program of another man -- similar 
to Mao's 1960s elevation of the model soldier Lei Feng -- to win 
national acclaim for himself.  With little more than a high 
school degree, Chen has risen quickly within the Guizhou Party 
apparatus, apparently because he is a "guanxi" (relationship) 
builder extraordinaire.  Despite the impressive career advances 
of his predecessors as GCYL Secretary, we predict Chen's weak 
educational background will cause his career to plateau below 
the national level.  A December 6 news report in Chongqing 
suggests that most top Chinese leaders are much better educated 
than Chen, although Chen's background in the Communist Youth 
League -- the power base of Chinese President Hu Jintao -- may 
prove us wrong.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
Chen's Early Rise through the Ranks and the Spring Sun Action 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a November meeting abruptly arranged hours before 
our arrival to Guiyang, GCYL Secretary Chen Cangxu regaled CG 
with his accomplishments and rapid rise within Guizhou politics. 
 Chen was introduced by Hu Chuanyu, an assistant who spent much 
of the first 15 minutes doting over Chen's biography.  Chen was 
born into a poor, rural family in Ziqiang village in Zhengan 
County, Guizhou.  After graduating from high school, Chen 
returned to Ziqiang to do farm work.  Chen joined the Communist 
Party shortly thereafter, and rose to Zhengan County magistrate 
in 2001. 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Speaking in a thick local accent, the short, 
square-shouldered Chen proudly boasted of his proletarian 
beginnings and his determination to serve his hometown of 
Ziqiang.  There, as magistrate of Zhengan County, he discovered 
Zheng Chuanlou -- whom Chen propagandized into an iconic figure 
similar to Mao's 1960s selfless hero-soldier "Lei Feng."  After 
graduating from college, Zheng returned to his hometown of 
Ziqiang in 1988 to improve quality of life in the poor village, 
Chen explained.  Zheng organized the building of bridges, roads, 
piping systems, schools, and other infrastructure.  He also 
instituted training programs to improve farmers' skills as 
migrant workers. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Chen named Zheng's program the "Spring Sun Action" and 
promoted it throughout Guizhou.  This successful program quickly 
caught the attention of Beijing policymakers, Chen claimed. 
After only one year as Zhengan County magistrate, Chen was made 
Vice-Secretary of the GCYL in 2002, based in large part on his 
success in promoting the Spring Sun Action.  In 2007, Chen was 
again promoted to GCYL Secretary, his current position. 
 
 
 
Conclusions on Future of Chen Cangxu 
 
------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The ever fawning Hu was quick to remind us that the 
position of GCYL Secretary has historically been a launching pad 
for higher office.  Wang Shanyun, Governor of Anhui, and Long 
Chaoyun, Vice-Chairman of Guizhou Chinese People's Political 
Consultative Conference, were previously GCYL Secretaries.  Even 
Party Secretary Hu Jintao had his beginnings in the China Youth 
League, he noted.  After Chen departed, Hu added that, although 
Chen only possessed a high school degree, he had recently 
completed studies in Party Thought at Beijing's Central Party 
School.  (Note: Recent Beijing initiatives have stressed that 
government leaders at all levels must possess at least an 
associate's degree.  This has created pressure for public 
officials to complete any degree in any field without necessary 
enhancing their actual skill sets.  End Note.) 
 
 
CHENGDU 00000296  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
Comment: A Good Self-Promoter, But National Prominence Unlikely 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------------ 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Our meeting ended abruptly about 45 minutes after it 
began.  Chen received a phone call and abandoned his guests for 
another "important meeting"  -- an unlikely event at eight 
o'clock on a Sunday night.  Whatever the reality, our impression 
 of Chen was one of an "operator," a man who built his career in 
part on the accomplishments of others.  By elevating Zheng 
Chuanlou to a Lei Feng-like status, Chen has craftily created 
political opportunity and capitalized on his one abundant 
talent: marketing. 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) In the modern Chinese Communist Party, we believe that 
most party officials like Chen will increasingly hit a glass 
ceiling and never reach the national spotlight.  The current 
generation of Beijing's leadership is well-educated, often with 
technocratic and scientific backgrounds, and increasingly with 
degrees in the social sciences and law.  Many observers believe 
China's next generation of national leaders will be even better 
educated, and possess some foreign policy experience -- two 
plusses that Chen lacks.  An interesting development will be how 
Chen progresses at the Guizhou provincial level.  In one of 
China's poorest provinces, and one of its most politically 
conservative, opportunistic leaders crafted in the 
revolutionary-era mold might yet find career avenues. 
 
 
 
Chongqing Newspaper Analyzes Careers of China's Top Leaders 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) A recent news report in the mainland press provides 
further insights into the typical profiles of China's top party 
leaders.  According to the December 6 "Chongqing Evening News," 
as re-reported in the December 7 "South China Morning Post," top 
provincial cadres usually work their way up the career ladder 
from low positions in state-owned enterprises, colleges, or the 
military.  Ninety percent of the 31 current provincial party 
chiefs have completed undergraduate or higher studies, and more 
than half have experience in both central and local governments. 
 The average age at which they became mayors or chiefs of big 
counties was 41, which was "at least 5-10 years earlier" than 
other officials of similar rank.  More than half were governors 
at an average age of 53, and they became party chiefs at an 
average age of 57.  Potential top party leaders at the national 
level often needed the experience of two or three top provincial 
posts; eight of nine members of the current Politburo Standing 
Committee worked as provincial bosses before their ascent to the 
top ranks, with Premier (and geologist) Wen Jiabao the only 
exception. 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) However, officials who have a background in the 
Communist Youth League -- the power base of President Hu Jintao 
-- can be significantly younger.  Hu Chunhua, previously first 
secretary of the youth league secretariat and reportedly one of 
Hu Jintao's closest allies, was named party boss in Inner 
Mongolia, the news report says.  In that case, perhaps Chen's 
background in the Communist Youth League -- the power base of 
Chinese President Hu Jintao -- may help him prove us wrong. 
BROWN