China: Killing chickens, not for bird flu

A corruption probe has led to the dismissal of Chen Liangyu, the highest-ranked Communist official in Shanghai and key member of former Chairman Jiang Zemin‘s Shanghai Gang, a rival faction to the current administration headed by Chairman Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.

Where the hundred million dollars has gone is not yet clear, and most bloggers have focussed on the possible political motivation behind the bust, which—perhaps in preparation for next year's 17th National Congress—seems to have been a serious blow to the second-strongest political alliance in China today.

Zhang Tianju:

9月23日晚,陈良宇还与上海市市长韩正等一起,在上海体育场观看上海国际田径黄金大奖赛。
上海市的区、局长以上官员都被要求交出护照,以免外逃。
原上海市委书记、现任政治局常委黄菊的政治前途受到关注。上海社保基金案的涉案金额高达人民币百亿元以上。据海外中文媒体报导,黄妻余慧文是上海社保案的关键人物。
上海区局级以上官员的护照、港澳通行证已被要求上交统一保管;副市级及以上官员,若需出境出国,要上报中共中央纪律检察委员会和中央组织部审核。

On the evening of September 23, Chen Yuliang was still with Shanghai mayor Han Zheng and others, watching the Shanghai international track & field championships in the Shanghai Sports Stadium.
Shanghai officials above district and bureau chief were all forced to surrender their passports, in the event they try and flee.
Past Shanghai Party secretary [equivalent to mayor in Party hierarchy] and current member of the political standing committee Huang Ju's political future is being considered. The Shanghai pension fund case involves an amount which reaches into the tens of billions of RMB. According to overseas Chinese media reports, Huang's wife Yu Huiwen is a key figure in the pension funds case.
Officials at the district level and above's passports and Hong Kong and Macau travel permits were required to be handed in for safekeeping. Officials at the deputy level and above, in the case they need to leave the country, must report to the central discipline and inspection committee members and the central organization department for approval.

David Peng at An Anachronist's Life:

此事之先,社保案件被披露;黄菊因病休息;据传纪委查及黄的家人;而此事的转折点在曾任陈良宇秘书的秦裕被收押。自此之后,情势急转直下,陈良宇的撤职已是指日可待。再前日,吴官正撰文,意指“刑要上大夫”,海外媒体普遍认为此论剑指陈良宇或者黄菊。

Before this, before the pension funds case had been made public, Huang Ju was already off on sick leave. Since then, affairs have taken a sudden turn for the worse and Chen Liangyu's dismissal will come any day now. The day before yesterday, Wu Guanzheng wrote an article in which he said, ‘the punishment will come to those up top’. Overseas Chinese media are all discussing whether the sword is pointing at Chen Liangyu or Huang Ju.

MSN Spaces blogger Yao Whai suggests that for all the talk in Beijing off cracking down on corruption, it seems the biggest busts only come every ten years or so, and heavily politicized at that:

陈良宇被抓了,2006年9月的事情,陈希同被抓,1996年的大事;陈良宇,上海市第一把手,陈希同,北京市的第一把手;陈良宇2006年,距离2010 年上海世博会尚有4年而下水,陈希同1996年,距离2000年奥运会(当时北京申办2000年奥运会)4年而落网;陈良宇因为挪用社保基金而犯事,陈希同由于贪污奥运会资金而犯科;1996年陈希同(北京人)被老江(上海帮)抓,2006年陈良宇(上海人)被小胡(北京)抓;陈良宇,上海大都市,陈希同,北京大都市;他姓陈,他也姓陈;都因为贪!
轮回啊,也许下个10年,就是2016年,中国的某个城市,申办了2020年的某个大型国际赛事,那该城市的第一把手,也会因某项,被抓,估计该位人兄也会姓陈!

Chen Liangyu was arrested, happened in September 2006. Chen Xitong‘s arrest was the big event of 1996. Chen Yuliang, Shanghai city's #1 hand, and Chen Xitong, Beijing city's #1 hand. Chen Liangyu in 2006, just four years away from the 2010 World Expo to be held in Shanghai. Chen Xitong in 1996 was caught just four years before the 2000 Olympics (Beijing had bid at the time to host the 2000 Olympics); Chen Liangyu for the crime of embezzling pension funds; Chen Xitong for graft with the Olympics monies. In 1996 Chen Xitong (Beijinger) was caught by Jiang Zemin (Shanghainese). In 2006 Chen Liangyu (Shanghainese) was caught by Hu Jintao (Beijinger) [sic]. Chen Liangyu got what was coming, maybe ten years from now, that'll be 2016, some city in China will bid to host some large-scale international event in 2020, and the #1 hand in that city will get busted for something or another, and I bet this person will even be surnamed Chen!

Chinese News Net blogger Li Youqi:

杀人立威,杀鸡儆猴。胡锦涛终于出手了。我当初小看了他。
江泽民当初搞掉北京帮,现在被他人用相同的手法干掉自己的小兄弟。 报应轮回。
估计小陈子被老江弃子了,丢卒保车,丢车保帅。大概小胡点到陈良宇为止,放黄菊一马,让他全身而退。但如果老江就这么放弃了,上海帮不就崩盘了吗?将来他撒手人间后,江大江二能有好果子吃?所以老江不会善罢甘休,一定会找机会反扑。
各路诸侯的反应也将会很有趣。估计现在还 in shock。

Kill someone to establish authority, kill the chicken to scare the monkey [and set an example]. Hu Jintao has finally made his move. Early on I had underestimated him.
Jiang Zemin got rid of the Beijing gang early on, now his own little brother has been gotten rid of by others using similar tactics. What goes around comes around.
I imagine Little Chen [Liangyu] was cast away by Old Jiang, who cut his losses to save the mission. Presumably, Little Hu [Jintao] will stop with Chen Liangyu, let Huang Ju off easy, let him back out. But if Old Jiang gives up just like that, won't the Shanghai Gang be done in? Once he's gone, what will be left for his children? That's why Old Jiang won't just give up so easily, for sure there will be a counterattack. Reactions from feudal lords of all stripes will be interesting. I imagine they're all still in shock.

Sohu blogger Vagabond:

对陈良宇来讲,秘书秦裕被审查,是一个关键时期,如果陈良宇和中央配合的好,能逃过这一劫,就不会从既定的政治轨道中出局,会按部就班地进入政治局常委,在其中谋得一个类似于黄菊的位子。“我认为,到目前为止,陈良宇晋升的可能性还有一半,大权旁落,被放置虚职只保留政治局委员的可能性不到一半,被彻底打下去的可能性很小。”
黄菊和陈良宇有着复杂的人际关系,他们互相依靠,如果黄菊夫人余慧文真的深深涉入上海福利事业,陈良宇作为上海的第一把手,显然纵容了中央政治局常委的太太在上海有这么大的经济实惠。“黄菊的夫人余慧文和上海的社会福利方面有千丝万缕的联系,我们可以做两种假设:一是她在经济上涉案很深,二是假设那些都是空穴来风。但他们在政治上,在人事上他们是沆瀣一气的。”

With regards to Chen Liangyu, the investigation into secretary Qin Yu was a key moment. If Chen Liangyu had just cooperated with the central government, he would have been able to avoid this disaster and wouldn't have had to leave office, and eventually would have end up on the political standing committee, in a seat similar to Huang Ju's. “The way I see it, until now Chen Liangyu has only advanced as half as high as he could, but now his power has fallen away, and even the probability of being retained in an empty post on the political standing committee isn't half of what it was, but the likelihood that he will be completely taken out is very low.”
Huang Ju and Cheng Liangyu have a very complicated relationship. They rely on each other. If Huang Ju's wife Yu Huiwen really has gotten deeply involved in Shanghai's welfare industry, with Chen Liangyu as Shanghai's #1 hand, it just goes to show what great economic benefits the wife of central government political standing committee members have. “Huang Ju's wife Yu Huiwen has countless sorts of contacts within Shanghai's social welfare. We can make two assumptions: one is that she deeply wrapped up in this case in an economic sense, and the second is to assume that those are all just rumors. But be it in politics or in human affairs, they are acting in collusion.”

Rookie on the Road from the Gansu Daily bbs:

陈良宇和中央主要领导胡锦涛、温家宝不和早已不是什么秘密,但他本人对于这个问题恐怕是并不以为意的。首先,由于其特殊的经济地位,上海市与中央之间有着各种摩擦是长期存在,并且会一直存在下去的。而另一方面,第三代领导人***对于自己退休之后早有打算,上海帮老家的市委书记这个位置必然会由信得过的人来担当,所以陈良宇敢于长期和中央步调不一致,也是因为背后有老江在撑腰。
此前曾有传言,由于国务院第一副总理(原上海市委书记)黄菊身患癌症,胡、温希望他可以让贤。对此***的态度是,让黄菊退下来可以,但要让现上海市委书记陈良宇来接班。显然,这样的人员调整是新一届中央所难以接受的,所以他们宁愿要一个病黄菊,不要一个健康的良宇。

That Chen Liangyu was on bad terms with central government top leaders Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao was never a secret, but he probably never put too much thought into this problem. First off, due to is special economic status, Shanghai has had many kinds of long-existing conflicts with the central government, and always will. But then, third generation leader *** [Jiang Zemin] has had a post-retirement plan for some time now. The municipal party committee secretary for the hometown of the Shanghai gang is guaranteed to go to someone who can be trusted, that's why Chen Liangyu dared to keep out of line with the central government over the long-term. That's also why Old Jiang [Zemin]'s backing him up from behind the scenes.
Before all this there was a rumor that because State Department first Vice-Premier (former Shanghai Party Secretary) Huang Ju is suffering from cancer, Hu and Wen hoped he would give the post to someone more qualified. Jiang Zemin's attitude to this was that to let Huang Ju retire was fine, and current Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Liangyu would take over. Apparently, this kind of personnel readjustment was one the new central government administration had a hard time accepting. That's why they preferred a sick Huang Ju over a healthy [Chen] Liangyu.

MSN Spaces blogger Kujes:

市委书记下台咯,又是一个高官。
评论大多是说是政治导致了他的下台,导致了所谓”上海帮”的倒台。目前下定论是似乎早了点,但愿事实不是这样,而是新一代领导人的”作为”。治国从来不是靠的思想、理论、文件、觉悟的,靠的应该是法律和制度。面对新世纪的挑战,陈旧的方式显然不适合继续延续,其弊端也是越来越明显,民间早已充满怨言。杀一个贪官简单,阻止千万个贪官不容易。如果新领导人有了觉悟,放开手脚,对此开始改进;如果此事是变革的一个预示、一个契机,那真是国家、民族的幸事了。
有人说我太乐观,但是人不能总是只看见缺点和阴暗面,是吧?但愿我的乐观不要落空。
希望这不是一阵短暂的穿堂风。

The city party committee secretary is out of office! And it's a senior official at that.
Most commentary says that it was politics that led to him stepping down, leading to the downfall of the so-called ‘Shanghai Gang‘. It seems a little too early for a last word, but I hope it's not so, rather that it's the new generation of leaders doing their jobs. Managing the state of a country has never been a question of relying on ideology, theory, documents or consciousness, but in fact relies on the law and a system. In facing down challenges in the new century, old methods are cleary not suited to remain in use, and their abuse becomes more and more apparent. People have been grumbling about this for a long while. It's easy to kill a single corrupt official, but to stop a thousand of them is not. If the new generation of leaders are in fact wake up to the situation, free their arms and legs and start getting at it, if this incident foretells change, a turning point, then it truly would be the good fortune of the nation and the people.
Some people say I'm too positive, but one can't always only see shortcomings and the gloomy side, right? I hope my optimism doesn't amount to nothing.
I hope this is not just a passing wind.

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