CHINA-LEADERSHIP: NEW PARTY SECRETARIES FOR CHONGQING AND GUIZHOU
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Xinhua on July 15, 2017, announced that Guizhou Party Secretary Chen Min'er had taken over as Party Secretary of Chongqing from Sun Zhengcai at a "hastily arranged ceremony on July 15, 2017. Sun Zhengcai, had reportedly been summoned to Beijing ahead of the meeting and did not attend the taking over/handing over ceremony which is the normal practice thereby reinforcing reports that Sun Zhengcai might be under investigation. Sun Zhengcai also did not appear in state television’s prime-time news reports on the two-day National Financial Work Conference in Beijing, which ended on Saturday. The meeting was attended by all Politburo members except for Sun and two others who were on overseas trips. Chongqing official media reported that at the gathering of senior Chongqing officials on July 15, Chen Min'er said the city’s cadres should make“safeguarding General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core status” in the party as their top political duty.Sun Zhengcai and Chen Mine'er are among the youngest provincial Party Chiefs and both had been seen as rising stars. Sun Zhengcai is regarded by some as a protégé of former Premier Wen Jiabao. He is already a Politburo member and had been seen as a front runner for a place on the PBSC at the upcoming 19th Party Congress.Chen Min'er is a trusted associate of President Xi Jinping, and was his propaganda chief when Xi was the boss of Zhejiang province. Chen Min'er is one of the 205 members of the Party’s Central Committee. Chen Daoyin, a political scientist with the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said Sun could be in trouble because his work was not mentioned at all in relation to the Chongqing handover meeting. Beijing-based political commentator Zhang Lifan said that criticism alone was unlikely to end Sun’s career, adding “He might be given a lightweight post, but there is no reason to take him down as he has not made any big mistakes yet” and any decision would also have to consider “saving face for Wen Jiabao”.
State-run Xinhua also reported that Guizhou Governor Sun Zhigang would succeed Chen Min'er as the province's Party Secretary. (Comment: 55-year old Sun Zhengcai is a member of the 25-member CCP CC Politburo and widely regard as a sure candidate for entry to the PBSC and possible successor to Xi jinping. Chen Min'er, also an upward mobile cadre close to Xi Jinping, is a member of the 370 member CCP CC.) |