CER hates to keep poking fun at the corruption scandals that seem to be sweeping all walks of life in China these days. We’d much rather focus on something rosy, like this editorial in China Daily that articulates the “Chinese dream” as “being happy.” However, in light of President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on online rumor mongering, we’d like to offer a few ideas of our own and set the record straight.
First, the Communist Party purged the head of State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission Jiang Jiemin this week, in one of the highest reaching corruption probes to date, primarily for his incessant scowling during a time of such wonderful economic progress. The service sector is doing well; manufacturing PMI hit a 16-month high this week; not to mention the yuan is trading more than ever internationally. Why the long face, Jiemin?
He certainly hasn’t done himself any favors wearing that grimace. International media have loved running photos like this, and like this.
Anyway, there’s been lots of talk about Jiang’s connections to other recently purged officials. And, yes, a flow chat can be drawn up that puts just about every corrupt official into the same bed. But the sweep is mainly due to some recent events that just really pissed off the powers that be. For example, the ammonia fire that killed 15 people in Shanghai last weekend, or Bank of America’s divesting in China Construction Bank, or even new trouble in the South China Sea. The top dogs get irritated, throw lightning bolts and random people get zapped.
At the same time, make no mistake about this smiling official: Yang Dacai, a former Shaanxi official, was caught on camera smiling at the scene of a horrific accident. He was also sporting a wrist watch that costs more than your house. So why was he smiling when he was sentenced this week to 14 years in prison? Because he’s going to the Communist Party jailhouse, where the dress code calls for dinner jackets after 4 pm and scantly clad women hand out cuban cigars and pate.
Maybe Jiang Jiemin could learn a thing or two from Yang about non-verbal communication. Perhaps very soon they’ll have an opportunity to discuss the nuances of socialization over a wide-mouthed glass of cognac.