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RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0852
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RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
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RUEHML/AMEMBASSY MANILA 0176
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RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 9211

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000045 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
TREASURY FOR OASIA/INA DOHNER/HAARSAGER/WINSHIP 
DEPT FOR EAP/CM, INR 
USDOC PASS BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS 
USDOC FOR ITA DAS KASOFF, MELCHER, OCEA 
STATE PASS USTR FOR STRATFORD, WINTER, KATZ 
NSC FOR LOI 
MANILA FOR USADB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON CH
SUBJECT: SEEKING SHEN HAO: FACT-CHECKING ANHUI'S MODEL RURAL CADRE 
 
REF: SHANGHAI 42 
 
(U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified and for official 
use only.  Not for distribution outside of USG channels or via 
the internet. 
 
 
 
Summary 
 
------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Eager to promote the model of selfless party cadre, 
Chinese media recently launched an extensive campaign to emulate 
Shen Hao, Communist Party secretary of a village in eastern 
Anhui closely tied to the beginnings of China's rural economic 
reforms three decades ago.  Although Shen, who died of a heart 
attack at age 45, is being praised as a "moral model," contacts 
in Anhui indicated Shen's success in securing government 
resources for his village was the real factor that brought him 
to national attention.  Several observers speculated that the 
burden of official entertainment to support his development 
agenda contributed to Shen's early death.  End Summary. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) During  a January 27-28 visit to the Anhui provincial 
capital of Hefei, CongenOffs asked contacts to share their views 
on Shen Hao, the local cadre in eastern Anhui praised 
extensively by national media for  "selfless service" following 
his death in November 2009. 
 
 
 
Xiaogang Village's Special Place in Chinese History 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) Shen was Party Secretary of Xiaogang Village in Central 
China's Anhui Province, a hamlet extolled as the launching point 
for China's first set of rural economic reforms in 1978. 
Farmers in Xiaogang initiated the "household contract 
responsibility system" that moved China away from collective 
agriculture and established the foundation for China's current 
system of household-based agriculture.  Communist Party General 
Secretary Hu Jintao, a native of Anhui Province, visited 
Xiaogang in September 2008 to commemorate the 30th anniversary 
of the contract responsibility system and to explain his land 
reform agenda in advance of that fall's Central Committee 
plenary session, which focused on the rural economy.  During 
Hu's visit, Xiaogang Party Secretary Shen Hao reportedly stated 
that the village was preparing to lead a new round of reforms. 
 
 
 
Shen Hao: The Model Cadre 
 
------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Two months after Shen's death from a heart attack on 
November 6, 2009, government-controlled media launched a 
campaign in mid-January featuring tearful retrospectives lauding 
Shen's efforts to improve livelihoods during his six-year tenure 
in Xiaogang.  Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping described Shen 
as a "modern Communist Party village cadre," posthumously 
 
SHANGHAI 00000045  002 OF 003 
 
 
honoring Shen on January 13 with the title of "national 
outstanding Communist Party member" and calling him "the 
people's civil servant."  National media reported that Shen's 
work to build infrastructure and improve housing had led to a 
near three-fold increase in average income from RMB 2300 to RMB 
6600 per capita during his tenure. 
 
 
 
Widespread Admiration for "Selfless Servant" 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) Many netizens voiced widespread admiration for Shen, 
writing in their blogs that the village chief died "in the line 
of duty" and should be recognized as a "hero."  Anhui University 
professor Zhang Deyuan told CongenOffs on January 28 that Shen 
was a "moral model" in a political system sorely lacking in 
examples of virtue.  Provincial government officials also 
praised Shen's work.  Anhui Human Resources and Social Security 
Bureau Policy and Legislative Division Director Peng Jiahai said 
Shen "epitomized the principle to work for the people." 
Specifically, Shen's efforts to coordinate rural and urban 
development in an important area for agricultural production 
deserved accolades, stated Anhui Provincial Development and 
Reform Commission Comprehensive Economy Department Director Guo 
Hao. 
 
 
 
Economic Development Key to Shen's Success 
 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Contacts agreed, however, that Shen's economic success 
was the primary reason for the national adulation.  Professor 
Zhang Deyuan stated emphatically that Shen Hao's economic record 
in Xiaogang was far more important than his "values."  Shen, who 
previously worked for the Anhui Provincial Finance Bureau, used 
his network of contacts in Hefei to support his efforts in 
Xiaogang, according to Anhui Academy of Social Sciences 
researcher Lu Liansheng.  For example, Lu said, Shen 
successfully applied for a RMB 8 million (approximately USD 1.18 
million) special development fund for the village and helped 
each village family obtain a RMB 20,000-80,000 subsidy from 
provincial finances, both of which contributed to the three-fold 
increase in per capita income. 
 
 
 
"You Can Only Be a Hero When You're Dead" 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) In the midst of effusive official praise, some 
controversy surrounding Shen's death has also emerged, our 
contacts said.  The circumstances of Shen's demise still are 
under investigation, but his young age (45) and the timing of 
his heart attack in the wake of three official banquets, sparked 
the blogosphere and Anhui residents to speculate that excess 
alcohol consumption could have been a contributing factor. 
While many residents lauded Shen's work ethic, they acknowledged 
that much of his work included hosting banquets for visiting 
central and provincial government officials.  "Drinking was an 
 
SHANGHAI 00000045  003 OF 003 
 
 
unavoidable task," said Zhang Deyuan.  Several contacts told 
CongenOffs that local officials [cannot be praised publicly 
while still in office, or even when they are still alive, 
because they still are liable to make mistakes.  In China, said 
Anhui Provincial Foreign Affairs Deputy Director General Lu 
Youqin, "You can only be a hero when you're dead." 
 
 
 
Learn from Shen Hao? 
 
-------------------- 
 
 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment:  Developing cadres who are both virtuous and 
capable is an oft-repeated goal of the Chinese Communist Party, 
and the media blitz about Shen Hao carries all the hallmarks of 
a classic Central Propaganda Department emulation campaign, 
including a deceased hero no longer capable of bad behavior. 
Ironically, however, observers in Anhui pointed to Shen's 
success in "working the system," more than his personal 
morality, as the factor which brought him to the attention of 
China's top leaders.  In the end, it may have been that system 
-- which still often demands catering to officials' private 
pleasures in order to address public needs -- that killed 
Anhui's "model cadre."  End Comment. 
CAMP