a turning point in china’s anti-graft campaign _ the diplomat

Ling Jihua

Image Credit: REUTERS/Jason Lee

A key phase of the Chinese CommunistParty’s anti-corruption campaign hasconcluded

The political downfall of a former aide to HuJintao was finally confirmed some two yearsafter a speeding Ferrari first crashed along aBeijing street in 2012. In a brief statementreleased last week, the Central Committee forDiscipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced that Ling Jihua,vice-chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, had been indicted for“serious discipline violations.” Following the impeachments of Zhou Yongkang and Xu Caihou,Ling was the third high-profile politician to be ensnared in China’s anti-graft movement in 2014.

Ling’s fall from grace is particularly stark, considering that his political star was on the rise in thelead-up to the 18th Party Congress, where he had been primed for a seat on the 25-memberPolitburo. As a key member of Hu Jintao’s inner circle, Ling’s access to China’s former top leadermeant that he had been favored to join the ranks of the country’s most powerful politicians.Following the car crash involving his son and two female passengers, however, Ling subsequentlyfailed to make the cut and was also stripped of his post as director of the influential GeneralOffice of the CCP’s Central Committee.

While Ling had largely stayed out of the political limelight in the past two years, it became clearearlier in the year that the CCP had not forgotten his previous indiscretions, when the party’santi-corruption agency began initiating proceedings against Ling Zhengce and Ling Wancheng.The two – respectively a provincial official of Shanxi, and a businessman – are brothers of LingJihua. In the same manner in which other senior party officials such as Zhou Yongkang had beentoppled, the CCDI steadily worked its way towards Ling – its intended target and big “tiger” – byfirst taking out the small “flies” associated with him.

A Political Storm Two Years in the Making

What then, are the regulations Hu Jintao’s former “political fixer” had supposedly contravened?According to media sources, Ling had ordered the unauthorized use of state security forces tocover up the details of his son’s accident. Possibly motivated by the rivalry between Hu’sCommunist Youth League (CYL) – of which Ling was a representative figure – and Jiang Zemin’s

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followers, Ling also allegedly misled Hu and the rest of the party leadership regarding the driver’sidentity by passing his son off as the offspring of a member of Jiang’s faction in order to discredithis political rivals.

At the same time, other China watchers have also contended that Ling Jihua had made a pactwith Zhou Yongkang for the latter’s help in covering up his son’s death to avert any politicalfallout. Accordingly, Ling would return Zhou’s favor by letting him off the hook for supporting thedeposed former Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai. Since his political demise was made official lastweek, sources close to the party have also revealed that Ling had collaborated with Bo from asearly as 2006 to undermine their political adversaries. Ling’s alleged association with the gangseen as challengers to Xi Jinping’s political career meant that it was only a matter of time beforethe current Chinese leader took action.

Fourth ‘Big Tiger’ Since Bo Xilai

That it has taken this long for Xi to close in on Ling can be explained by the more pressing need ofpurging the Chinese public security apparatus and China’s military of the influence of theirprevious officeholders. Towards that end, it was crucial that Xi focused his energies on reining inthe Jiang loyalists – Zhou Yongkang and Xu Caihou – before opening up a new front against theCYL. Having systematically rooted out Zhou’s men within the state security bureaucracy inaddition to consolidating his own status in the Central Military Commission (CMC), Xi haswasted no time in widening the anti-corruption campaign to include Hu’s protégé.

In a country in which rent-seeking and abuses of power are endemic, it is not improbable thatcorruption may be considered a lesser evil than challenging those in power. It is thus more thanlikely that Ling’s removal had more to do with his political failings than anything else. Indeed,Ling’s putative decision to consort with Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai has even moved certainChinese media outlets to describe the three and Xu Caihou as China’s new “Gang of Four.” Whilespeculation regarding the four having harbored intentions to remove Xi midway through his firstterm remains nothing more than fanciful musing, the roundup of Ling is nevertheless symbolicand marks a watershed in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign.

What Next for Xi Jinping and China?

To be sure, Xi Jinping’s fight against corruption has yielded neither any high-ranking officialfrom Fujian and Zhejiang – provinces in which Xi had previously served – nor anyone from his“princelings” faction. Nevertheless, whether the campaign seeks to arrest malfeasance or issimply an excuse to root out political foes, Xi has done his party’s legitimacy no harm. Not unlikethe still unraveling details from the Ferrari crash from two years ago, it may be a while yet beforethe actual motives behind the recent developments can fully emerge. While the CCP may neverreveal the real reasons behind Ling Jihua’s downfall, two things are clear.

First, the removal of Hu Jintao’s former right-hand man reaffirms the fact that Xi Jinping hasmore or less removed the final vestiges of influence his predecessor had retained. Similarly, thepolitical shortcomings of Jiang Zemin’s clique also gives Xi an additional bargaining chip. Thisbreaks the trend in contemporary Chinese politics in which party elders had continued to holdsway despite leaving office. Jiang undermined Hu’s authority just as he himself had beenconstrained by Deng Xiaoping. Clearly, Xi does not want to be held back from realizing hisChinese Dream. Looking ahead, he is also well placed to anoint his own successor.


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Second, Xi is also unencumbered by the political gridlock caused by factional conflicts thatmarked the previous administration. With this initial phase of his anti-corruption campaigndrawing to a close, it is clear that Xi’s clout as well as that of his fellow “princelings” has grown atthe expense of the coteries under Jiang and Hu. As it becomes increasingly likely that Xi willsucceed in stamping his authority on the entire party machinery, he also stands a better chance ofreforming the country’s political system while restoring public faith in the CCP’s rule. As hiscountrymen’s new helmsman, the direction in which Xi Jinping steers China towards will bekeenly watched.

James Char is a Research Analyst with the China Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School ofInternational Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU).


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a turning point in china’s anti-graft campaign _ the diplomat

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