OBAMA IN MYANMAR: THE REALITY & THE MIRAGE

 

B.RAMAN

US President Barack Obama has just completed an eight-hour flying visit to Yangon (Rangoon), the former capital of Myanmar, from Thailand and flown to Phnom-Penh, the Cambodian capital, to attend the East Asia summit before flying back home. He was accompanied by Mrs. Hillary Clinton, his Secretary of State, who had visited Myanmar last year. This is the second visit by a US President to Myanmar since it became independent. The first was by President Richard Nixon in 1973.

2. In a carefully programmed visit, Mr. Obama visited only Yangon, the former capital from the British colonial days, where Aung San Suu Kyi generally lives. President Thein Sein, who lives and works in the new capital Nay Pyi Taw, flew to Yangon from Phnom-Penh, where he had gone to attend the ASEAN summit, to meet Mr.Obama.

3.Mr.Obama met Mr.Thein Sein and Daw Suu Kyi separately----Mr.Thein Sein in his official Yangon residence and Suu Kyi in her private residence. He did not meet the two together.

4. One may recall that when our Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, visited Myanmar earlier this year, he did not call on Suu Kyi at her residence. Suu Kyi called on Dr. Manmohan Singh at the place where he was staying in Yangon.

5. The only other public engagement of Mr.Obama in Yangon was an address to the students of the Rangoon University , whose predecessors were in the forefront of the pro-democracy struggle since 1988. Many of them were mowed down by the Army and their movement was crushed.

6. Before the visit of Mr.Obama, there were two important indications from Myanmar Government circles. The first was that the Myanmar Government had assured the UN Secretary-General that it would address the human rights concerns of the Rohingya Muslims living in the Rakhine State, including their demand for citizenship rights. Till now, the Government was reluctant to accept their demand for citizenship rights on the ground that they were illegal migrants from Bangladesh and not sons and daughters of the Myanmar soil. This is the first time the Government has indicated it will have an open mind on this issue.

7. The second was that Myanmar will accept full scope safeguards and  inspection of all its nuclear establishments by the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. This would remove US suspicions and fears regarding nuclear co-operation between North Korea and Myanmar in the past.

8.These two were important issues of concern to the US and the Government of Thein Sein apparently wanted to act to address those concerns without giving an impression it was doing so under US pressure. An impression was sought to be created as if these were independent steps taken by the Government on its own and not under US pressure.

9. While the official circles in the White House and the State Department viewed the significant visit in very positive terms, their enthusiasm for the visit was not shared by many non-governmental human rights organisations, which felt that the visit was premature and should have followed the release of all political prisoners and an improvement in the human rights situation in the Rakhine State.

10. There was a certain hype in the circle of Mr.Obama’s advisers over the steps taken by President Thein Sein for over a year now to start the process of democratisation of the political set-up in Myanmar and to open up the country for foreign investments. At the same time, there was an anxiety over the unhappiness in the Islamic world on the tardy action taken by the Government to address the human rights concerns of the Rohingya Muslims.

11.How to address both these issues in public during the visit without ringing alarms bells in the minds of ultra-nationalist elements in the Buddhist clergy and the Armed Forces which are even now not prepared to consider the demand of the Rohingya Muslims for citizenship rights?

12.Mr.Obama sought to do this by acknowledging but not endorsing the record of the Thein Sein Government towards democratisation and external opening-up and by highlighting the sensitive issue of the human rights of the ethnic minorities, without giving the impression of pressuring  the Government to act on these issues too. He said: “ The purpose of my visit is to sustain the momentum for democratisation. That includes building credible government institutions, establishing rule of law, ending ethnic conflicts and ensuring that the people of this country have access to greater education, health care and economic opportunity.” In the advanced extracts from his address to the students released by US officials, he said in an indirect reference to the situation in the Rakhine State: “ I will urge Myanmar to draw on diversity as a strength, not a weakness".

13. The statements made by Mr.Obama and Suu Kyi during the visit highlighted the differing perceptions of the two over the sustainability and durability of the actions taken by the Thein Sein Government. The statements of Mr.Obama underline his conviction  in the sincerity of Mr.Thein Sein and his ability to overcome any opposition from the Armed Forces to his policies.

14. Suu Kyi’s attitude has been a little more cautious. While she is convinced of the sincerity and good faith of Mr.Thein Sein, she still has some misgivings in her mind about other officers. During her visit to the US in September last, she had hinted that while she knew Mr.Thein Sein well, she did not know other officers that well. When she came to India last week,  she cautioned in public  about over-optimism.

15. The need for caution in assessment was again emphasised by her during the visit of Mr.Obama. She reportedly said: “The most difficult time in any transition is when we think that success is in sight. We have to be very careful that we're not lured by the mirage of success." ( 19-11-12)

(The  writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com  Twitter @SORBONNE75)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GAZA & ISRAEL : TIME FOR WISDOM

 

B.RAMAN

 

What we are seeing in Israel and Gaza is not just a war.

It is not just a ruthless exchange of fire.

It is not just missiles, air strikes and naval barrages.

People are dying on both sides.

It is a struggle for survival.

One is dying in order to assert one’s right to live.

One is dying in order to assert one’s right to land.

It may be just a piece of graveyard.

Or just a place of worship.

One is prepared to die for that.

To assert one’s right to live,

One is prepared to kill,

With missiles, air strikes and naval barrages.

To assert one’s right to land, one is prepared to destroy,

Anything and everything.

With missiles, air strikes and naval barrages.

It is a struggle sans victory.

One had seen such struggles before.

One is seeing one more now.

More ferocious than in the past.

It is not going to be the end of ferocity.

It is never-ending ferocity.

To assert one’s right to live.

To assert one’s right to land.

If more ferocity could establish the right to live and the right to land,

It should have been there by now.

Has the time to think not arrived?

Can both live together----the Israelis and the Palestinians?

Can both live together---the Muslims and the Jewish people?

The time for escalating ferocity is over.

It is time for dawning wisdom.

One sees no sign of it, though.

The need for wisdom---that is what one has to address.

Not the need for more missiles, more air strikes, more naval barrages.

Let us search for wisdom and admire it.

The time for admiring Israelis’ prowess and the Palestinians’ courage and resistance is over.

It is time to look for wisdom in both. (18-11-12)

(The  writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com  Twitter @SORBONNE75)

 

 

THAKSIN SHINAWATRA, PERVEZ MUSHARRAF & HT LEADERSHIP SUMMIT

 

 

 

B.RAMAN

 

After the March 1993 serial explosions in Mumbai organised by Dawood Ibrahim, who was then living in Dubai, the Memon brothers and others trained by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), who had allegedly carried out the conspiracy, escaped to Karachi via Kathmandu. They were given shelter in Karachi by the ISI.

2. On coming to know of this, the Narasimha Rao Government then in office in the Government of India brought this to the notice of the US and sought its help for tracing them. The US Consulate in Karachi started making enquiries about their presence there.

3. The ISI thereupon had them flown to Bangkok where the perpetrators were kept in a hotel arranged by the Pakistani Embassy in Bangkok. After some months, the US Consulate in Karachi stopped making enquiries about their presence in Karachi. The ISI shifted them back to Karachi.

4. One of the perpetrators went to Kathmandu from Karachi and clandestinely entered India to meet a family friend. He was arrested by the Police and interrogated. During the interrogation, it came out that the perpetrators of the 1993 terrorist strikes organised by Dawood Ibrahim had been kept in Bangkok for some time by the ISI. In August 1994, Shri Padmanabiah, the then Home Secretary of the Government of India, held a press conference to announce the details of what the suspect had told the Police about the perpetrators of the 1993 terrorist strikes organised by Dawood Ibrahim being kept in a Bangkok hotel by the ISI after the commission of the terrorist strikes.

5. Around the same time, the “Far Eastern Economic Review”, then published from Hongkong, had carried a report alleging that Mr.Thaksin Shinawatra, who had won a telecom contract in Cambodia by bribing local Army officers, had tried to instigate a coup in Cambodia with the help of Cambodian Army officers in the pay of his company.

6. It also came out in India that the telecom company of Mr.Thaksin Shinawatra had been given a contract in Kolkata. The issue figured in the Lok Sabha. Our intelligence community drew the attention of Narasimha Rao to the allegations made against Mr.Thaksin Shinawatra’s telecom company in Cambodia by the “Far Eastern Economic Review”.

7. Narasimha Rao had it checked up whether background  enquiries regarding Mr.Thaksin Shinawatra had been made before his company was given the Kolkata contract. It was found that no such enquiries had been made.

8.Some years later, Mr.Thaksin Shinawatra entered politics and became the Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006. He was very well disposed towards India during his Prime Ministership and even earlier when he was a Deputy Prime Minister. He helped India in becoming a full dialogue partner of the ASEAN and was always positive in his attitude towards India. We were happy with him as a political leader, Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister.

9. It came to notice during his Prime Ministership that he was maintaining equally close relationship with Gen.Pervez Musharraf, who was then in power in Pakistan. He had allegedly come to know Musharraf through Mr.Shaukat Aziz, a Pakistani businessman living in the Gulf, who became the Finance Minister of Musharraf and subsequently his Prime Minister in 2005. When Mr.Shaukat Aziz was the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra was the Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin had worked hard to bring Pakistan and the ASEAN closer together.

10. As Prime Minister, Mr.Shaukat Aziz visited Bangkok from May 8 to 10,2005. Thaksin spent most of the time with him, drove him around and accompanied him for his courtesy call on the King of Thailand who was then staying in the interior. The close relations of Thaksin with Mr.Shaukat Aziz and through him with Gen.Pervez Musharraf came to notice during this period.

11. After leaving office, Musharraf against whom there is allegedly a non-bailable warrant in Pakistan in connection with the pending investigation into the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, has been living in London allegedly as a guest of Shaukat Aziz, the close friend of Thaksin.

12. It is intriguing that  despite this past history, Pervez Musharraf and Thaksin should have figured as honoured guests in the leadership summit of the “Hindustan Times” held at New Delhi on November 16 and 17 and should have been lionised by the CNN-IBN TV channel which was associated with the summit.

13. I had myself in the past spoken well of the helpful attitude of Thaksin to India, but at the same time I had been concerned over his closeness to Aziz.

14. I don’t know what is the objective of the so-called leadership summits and whether any purpose is served by issuing invitations that could become controversial and embarrassing. ( 17-11-12)

(The  writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com  Twitter @SORBONNE75)

 

 

 

PRAGMATISM WILL CONTINUE TO GUIDE CPC

 

B.RAMAN

Pragmatism will continue to guide the policies of the new leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) headed by Mr.Xi Jinping which took over from the outgoing leadership headed by Mr.Hu Jintao on November 15,2012.

2. The seven members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo, who will lead the party and the country till the 19^th Party Congress in 2017,belong to a transition generation which was born just before the proclamation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 or in the early years thereafter.

3. Mr.Xi, who took over as the Party General Secretary on November 15 and will be taking over as the State President next March, and Mr.Li Keqiang, the No. 2 in the Standing Committee, who will be taking over as the Prime Minister next March, were both born in the early 1950s after the proclamation of the PRC. They will both be eligible for one more term in 2017 and  hence should continue till 2022.

4. The other five members of the Standing Committee were born in the late 1940s just before communism triumphed in China and the PRC was proclaimed. They were young kids when the PRC was formed.

5. All the seven members of the Standing Committee are children of the participants in the Long March and the peasants’ revolution, but they themselves had not participated in the revolution under Mao Zedong. They grew up in Communist China under the leadership of Mao and they and their parents had seen the abject poverty and the excesses of the Cultural Revolution and its Red Guards.

6. It is a generation that had suffered the years of misery under the Cultural Revolution. It had also seen and benefited from the beginnings of  affluence after the death of Mao and the opening-up of the economy by Deng Xiaoping. The children of this generation were the initial beneficiaries of the affluence brought in by Deng’s opening-up.

7. China is going to be ruled for the next 10 years by a leadership belonging to a generation that had seen the worst of poverty and disorder during the Cultural Revolution and enjoyed the benefits of affluence arising from the pragmatic economic policies of Deng.

8. The new leadership and its princelings will have a vested interest in the continuance of this affluence. It realises that this affluence has been made possible not only by the pragmatic economic policies, but also by long years of political stability in the Han areas except in some pockets.

9. This affluence has also been made possible by pragmatic foreign policies, which have avoided unnecessary rhetoric and foreign adventurism despite sticking to China’s territorial sovereignty claims.

10. One can, therefore, say with reasonable confidence that the new leadership will follow a policy mix of economic pragmatism, avoidance of liberal political experimentation while continuing to pay lip service to the need for political reforms to keep pace with the economic reforms and non-provocation of external military conflicts while continuing to adhere to territorial sovereignty claims.

11. The world is aware of the tremendous prosperity that China has achieved in large parts of the country. It is not equally aware of the continuing poverty and inequalities in the interior parts and in the peripheral non-Han areas. These are the faultlines of China which can make it come unstuck if the leadership is not wise enough to address them imaginatively and with innovation.

12. We will see 10 more years of cautious and pragmatic rule that doesn’t aggravate the faultlines. The Chinese civil society today has three classes---- the aging remnants of the participants in the Long March and the peasants revolution, the middle-age remnants of the days of the Cultural Revolution and the Red Guards and the new class of the Internet generation, which has been rapidly growing.

13. While exhortations of caution and pragmatism are accepted by the aging and the middle-aged classes, the new class of the Internet Generation---the Internet Revolutionaries---- are tending to be more and more idealistic and challengers of the status quo.

14. The new leadership under Mr.Xi that took over on November 15 has the ability and experience to carry along with it the ageing and the middle-aged classes and ensure that they do not rock the boat. But will it be able to handle with equal dexterity the new Internet generation? The answer to this question will decide the continuing economic prosperity and political stability of China. ( 16-11-12)

 

(The  writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com  Twitter @SORBONNE75)

 

TIME TO AVOID ROMANTICISATION OF AUNG SAN SUU KYI

 

B.RAMAN

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is presently on a visit to India where she grew up and studied as a teen-ager. Her widowed mother was posted as the Myanmar Ambassador to India. She delivered the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture  at New Delhi on November 14,2012. She was interviewed on November 15 by Barkha Dutt of NDTV and Karan Thapar of CNN-IBN. Before her arrival, she gave a detailed interview to Nirupama Subramanian of “The Hindu”.

2.Her lecture and three interviews have made a positive impact on public mind and highlighted her affection for India and her understated regret that during the long years she was under house arrest, India avoided taking up vigorously  the cause of the human rights of the Myanmar people. India’s security and power considerations and not our concerns over the rights of her people influenced our policy priorities and options. In her reply to one of Barkha’s questions, she stated that she understood that Indian interests influenced Indian decisions towards her country and its military Government.

3. There is no need for us to have a guilt complex for having allowed realpolitik considerations to influence our priorities and decisions when she was under house arrest. Suu Kyi herself is a practitioner par excellence of realpolitik.

4. After she was released  following an agreement with President Thein Sein and got elected to her Parliament, her priorities  in respect of foreign visits have been Thailand, European Union, the USA and India. She intends going to China last. As between India and China, her priority is to India. As between the West and India, her priority has been to the West. Recent reports from Myanmar speak of a certain disillusionment in sections of the Myanmar  political class over her perceived preferences for the  West as against Myanmar’s Asian neighbours.

5.Since she became politically active, she has been focussing on two issues---- keeping up the pressure on President Thein Sein and his Government to keep moving on the road to internal democratisation and external opening-up and keeping up the pressure on the West to remove the remaining economic sanctions  and the curbs on Western investments in Myanmar.

6. One can’t help forming an impression that in the matter of investments, she prefers investment flows from the West. She has no objection to investment flows from India but is concerned that this could lead to pressure from China for more Chinese investments.

7. In matters of interest and concern to India, her policies and pronouncements have been marked more by discreet silence than clear articulation. She has avoided  a clear articulation of her views regarding the human rights of the Rohingya Muslims. This is an issue that in the medium and long term could  have an impact on our Muslim community in the North-East. She has not uttered a word on the question of compensation for Indian businessmen who were driven out of Myanmar in the late 1950s and 1960s after seizing their property.

8. What I have enumerated above would show how she has had no qualms over taking decisions and advocating policies on the basis of her perceptions of Myanmar’s national interests and the interests of herself and her party.

9. If we had taken realpolitik decisions in the past on the basis of our perceptions of our national interests, there is no reason to let a gnawing feeling of guilt affect our future policies. Myanmar is an important buffer state between India and the Yunnan Province of China. If there is another military conflict with China due to the pending border dispute, the policies and attitudes of the Myanmar Government will have an impact on our ability to counter the Chinese designs.

10. We have two important national interests in Myanmar---- the security-related interests arising from the counter-insurgency situation in the North-East and our border dispute with China and our economic interests arising from the need for connectivity with Bangladesh and the ASEAN countries.

11. We have to identify those sections of the Myanmar society and administration which will be favourably inclined towards paying attention to these interests and strengthen our links with them. At present, only the Myanmar Armed Forces and the Government dominated by them have a positive comprehension of our interests and have been inclined to take notice of them.

12. Suu Kyi and her National League For Democracy have not shown such comprehension and such inclination. It will be unwise on our part to dilute the links that we had built up with the Armed Forces and the Government dominated by them just because of our affection for Suu Kyi and our tendency to romanticise her.

13. We must strengthen our relations with her and her party and build on the emotional links of the past without allowing the realpolitik links with the Armed Forces to rust.  (15-11-12)

(The  writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Associate of the Chennai Centre For China Studies. E-mail: seventyone2@gmail.com  Twitter @SORBONNE75)

 

LIKELY NEW CPC LEADERSHIP

 

B.RAMAN

The 18^th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) will end on November 14,2012, after approving the new General Secretary (Mr.Xi Jinping), the new seven-member Standing Committee of the Politbureau, the new Politbureau and the new 18^th Central Committee.

2.All these organs will look after the affairs of the Party till the 19^th Party Congress in 2017. The official announcements regarding the new party organs will be made at a press conference on November 15 at which the new Standing Committee of the Politbureau will be introduced to the public for the first time.

3.The bio-data of the likely new members of the Standing Committee of the Politbureau as taken from Chinese Internet Databases are given below. This is still a speculative list and is not yet confirmed.

4.Of the seven names figuring in the speculative list, only Mr.Xi is  member of the outgoing Standing Committee of the Politbureau. The remaining six were members of the outgoing Politbureau, but not of its Standing Committee. Of these six, who are tipped to be the new members of the Standing Committee of the new Politbureau, one is an economic expert, one a historian-cum-banking expert, one is a missile engineer, one an expert in petroleum refining, one an expert on Inner Mongolia and one an expert on North Korea.

1.Xi Jinping, ethnic Han, native of Fuping, Shaanxi Province, born in June 1953. Joined the CPC in January 1974 and began working in January 1969. Graduated from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Tsinghua University, majoring in Marxist theory and ideological education. With an on-the-job postgraduate education. LLD.

Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee.

1969-1975: Worked as an educated youth sent to the countryside at Liangjiahe Brigade, Wen'anyi Commune, Yanchuan County, Shaanxi Province, and served as Party branch secretary.

1975-1979: Student of basic organic synthesis at the Chemical Engineering Department of Tsinghua University.

1979-1982: Secretary at the General Office of the State Council and the General Office of the Central Military Commission (as an officer in active service).

1982-1983: Deputy secretary of the CPC Zhengding County Committee, Hebei Province.

1983-1985: Secretary of the CPC Zhengding County Committee, Hebei Province.

1985-1988: Member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and vice mayor of Xiamen, Fujian Province.

1988-1990: Secretary of the CPC Ningde Prefectural Committee, Fujian Province.

1990-1993: Secretary of the CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fuzhou Municipal People's Congress, Fujian Province.

1993-1995: Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee, secretary of the CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fuzhou Municipal People's Congress.

1995-1996: Deputy secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee, secretary of the CPC Fuzhou Municipal Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Fuzhou Municipal People's Congress.

1996-1999: Deputy secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee.

1999-2000: Deputy secretary of the CPC Fujian Provincial Committee and acting governor of Fujian Province.

2000-2002:  Studied Marxist theory and ideological education in an on-the-job postgraduate program at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Tsinghua University and graduated with an LLD degree.

2002-2002: Deputy secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and acting governor of Zhejiang Province.

2002-2003: Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and acting governor of Zhejiang Province.

2003-2007: Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress.

2007-2007: Secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee.

2007-2008: Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, and president of Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

 

 

2008-2010: Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, vice president of PRC and president of Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

2010- : Vice chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission.

Alternate member of the Fifteenth CPC Central Committee, and member of the Sixteenth CPC Central Committee. Member of the Seventeenth CPC Central Committee, member of the Political Bureau and its Standing Committee, and member of the Secretariat of the Seventeenth CPC Central Committee.

2.Li Keqiang, ethnic Han, native of Dingyuan, Anhui Province, born in July 1955. Joined the CPC in May 1976 and began working in March 1974. Graduated from the School of Economics of Peking University, majoring in economics. With on-the-job postgraduate education. Doctor of Economics.

Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, secretary of the CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial People's Congress.

1974-1976: Secondary school graduate sent to work at Dongling Brigade, Damiao Commune, Fengyang County, Anhui Province.

1976-1978: Party branch secretary of Damiao Brigade, Damiao Commune, Fengyang County, Anhui Province.

1978-1982: Student of the Department of Law and leading member of the Student Union of Peking University.

1982-1983: Secretary of the CYLC committee of Peking University.

1983-1985: Director general of the School Department of the CYLC Central Committee and concurrently secretary general of the All-China Students' Federation, Alternate member of the Secretariat of the CYLC Central Committee.

1985-1993: Member of the Secretariat of the CYLC Central Committee and vice chairman of the All-China Youth Federation (September-November 1991: studied at the Party School of CPC Central Committee).

1993-1998: First secretary of the Secretariat of the CYLC Central Committee and concurrently president of the China Youth Political College (1988-1994: obtained MA and doctorate of Economics after attending the on-the-job postgraduate program on Economics at the School of Economics of Peking University).

1998-1999: Deputy secretary of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee and acting governor of Henan Province.

1999-2002: Deputy secretary of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee and governor of Henan Province.

2002-2003: Secretary of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee and governor of Henan Province.

2003-2004: Secretary of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Henan Provincial People's Congress.

2004-2005: Secretary of the CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee.

2005-2007: Secretary of the CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial People's Congress.

2007- Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, secretary of the CPC Liaoning Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Liaoning Provincial People's Congress.

Member of the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth CPC Central Committees. Member of the Political Bureau and its Standing Committee of the Seventeenth CPC Central Committee. Member of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress.

3.Zhang Dejiang, ethnic Han, native of Tai'an, Liaoning Province, born in November 1946. Joined the CPC in January 1971 and began working in November 1968. Graduated from the Department of Economics, Kim Il Sung University, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). With a university education.

Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee.

1968-1970: Worked as an educated youth sent to the countryside at Taiping Brigade, Luozigou Commune, Wangqing County, Jilin Province.

1970-1972: Member of the Publicity Group of Wangqing County Revolutionary Committee, Jilin Province, and secretary of its Communist Youth League branch.

1972-1975: Student of Yanbian University majoring in the Korean language.

1975-1978: Deputy secretary of the general Party branch committee of the Department of the Korean Language, Yanbian University, member of the standing committee of its Party Committee and vice chairman of its Revolutionary Committee.

1978-1980: Student of the Department of Economics of Kim Il Sung University, DPRK and secretary of the CPC branch committee of Chinese students studying at the university.

1980-1983: Member of the standing committee of the Party Committee and president of Yanbian University.

1983-1985: Deputy secretary of the CPC Committee of Yanji, and concurrently member of the standing committee of the CPC Committee of Yanbian Prefecture, Jilin Province.

1985-1986: Deputy secretary of the CPC Committee of Yanbian Prefecture, Jilin Province.

1986-1990: Vice Minister of Civil Affairs and deputy secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

1990-1995: Deputy secretary of the CPC Jilin Provincial Committee and concurrently secretary of the CPC Committee of Yanbian Prefecture.

1995-1998: Secretary of the CPC Jilin Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Jilin Provincial People's Congress.

1998-2002: Secretary of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee.

2002-: Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee.

Alternate member of the Fourteenth CPC Central Committee, member of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth CPC Central Committees, and Political Bureau member of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CPC Central Committees.

4.Yu Zhengsheng, ethnic Han, native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, born in April 1945. Joined the CPC in November 1964 and began working in August 1963. Graduated from the Department of Missile Engineering, Harbin Military Engineering Institute, majoring in automatic control of ballistic missiles. With a university education. Engineer.

Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee.

1963-1968: Student majoring in automatic control of ballistic missiles at the Department of Missile Engineering, Harbin Military Engineering Institute.

1968-1971: Technician of Zhangjiakou No. 6 Radio Factory, Hebei Province.

1971-1975: Technician and director of Qiaoxi Radio Factory, Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province.

1975-1981: Technician and engineer of Research Institute for Promotion and Application of Electronic Technology under the Fourth Ministry of Machine-Building Industry.

1981-1982: Assistant chief engineer of Research Institute for Promotion and Application of Electronic Technology under the Fourth Ministry of Machine-Building Industry.

1982-1984: Deputy director of Research Institute for Promotion and Application of Electronic Technology under the Ministry of Electronics Industry; chief of Second Systems Division, assistant chief engineer and head of Department of Microcomputer Management of the Administration for Computer Industry, the Ministry of Electronics Industry; and deputy director of the Planning Department of the Ministry of Electronics Industry.

1984-1985: President, vice chairman of the board and member of the Leading Party Members' Group of the China Welfare Fund for the Disabled (equal to bureau-chief as from December 1984; and acting general manager of China Kanghua Industrial Company Ltd., January-March 1985).

1985-1987: Deputy secretary of the CPC Yantai Municipal Committee, Shandong Province.

1987-1989: Deputy secretary of the CPC Yantai Municipal Committee and mayor of Yantai, Shandong Province.

1989-1992: Deputy secretary of the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee and deputy mayor and major of Qingdao, Shandong Province .

1992-1994: Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, secretary of the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee, and mayor of Qingdao.

1994-1997: Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and secretary of the CPC Qingdao Municipal Committee.

1997-1998: Secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group of the Ministry of Construction and vice-minister of Construction.

1998-2001: Minister of Construction and secretary of the Leading Party Members' Group of the Ministry of Construction 2001-2002 Secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee.

2002-2003: Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Hubei Provincial People's Congress.

2003- 2007: Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Hubei Provincial Committee.

2007-: Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee.

Alternate member of the Fourteenth CPC Central Committee, member of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth CPC Central Committees, and Political Bureau member of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CPC Central Committees.

5.Liu Yunshan, ethnic Han, native of Xinzhou, Shanxi Province, born in July 1947. Joined the CPC in April 1971 and began working in September 1966. Graduated from the Party School of the CPC Central Committee. With a university education.

Member of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

1964-1968: Student at Jining Normal School, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

1968-1969: Teacher of Bashi School of Tumd Left Banner and sent to do manual labor in Sobugai People's Commune of Tumd Right Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

1969-1975: Clerk of the Publicity Department of the CPC Tumd Right Banner Committee, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

 

1975-1982: Reporter, deputy section chief and member of the Leading Party Members' Group of Inner Mongolia Bureau of Xinhua News Agency (studied at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee from March to August 1981)

1982-1984: Deputy secretary of the Communist Youth League Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee and its Leading Party Members' Group

1984-1986: Deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee

1986-1987: Member of the Standing Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee

1987-1991: Member of the Standing Committee and secretary general of the CPC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee and concurrently secretary of Working Committee of the Organs Under CPC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee

1991-1992: Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee and secretary of the CPC Chifeng Municipal Committee

1992-1993: Deputy secretary of the CPC Inner Mongolia Autonomous Regional Committee and concurrently secretary of the CPC Chifeng Municipal Committee (1989-1992: took a correspondence course of the Central Party School, majoring in Party and government administration)

 

1993-1997: Deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee

1997-2002: Deputy head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee (confirmed as ministerial-level official in October 1997), head of the Office of the Spiritual Civilization Steering Committee of the CPC Central Committee

2002-: Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, member of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee Alternate member of the Twelfth and Fourteenth CPC Central Committees, and member of the Fifteenth through Seventeenth CPC Central Committees. Member of the Political Bureau and the Secretariat of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CPC Central Committees.

6.Zhang Gaoli, ethnic Han, native of Jinjiang, Fujian Province, born in November 1946. Joined the CPC in December 1973 and began working in August 1970. Graduated from the Department of Economics, Xiamen University, majoring in planning and statistics. With a university education.

Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Tianjin Municipal Committee.

1965-1970: Student majoring in planning and statistics in the Department of Economics, Xiamen University.

1970-1977: Worker of the Guangdong Maoming Petroleum Company under the Ministry of the Petroleum Industry, secretary of its production headquarters office, secretary of the CYLC general branch of its political department, and deputy secretary of its CYLC committee.

1977-1980: Secretary of the general branch of the CPC committee and political instructor of the first workshop of the refinery of the Guangdong Maoming Petroleum Company under the Ministry of the Petroleum Industry, deputy secretary and secretary of the refinery Party committee.

1980-1984: Standing committee member of the Party committee of the Maoming Petroleum Industrial Company under the Ministry of the Petroleum Industry, director of its planning division, and deputy manager of the company.

1984-1985 Deputy secretary of the CPC committee of Maoming City, Guangdong Province, and manager of the Maoming Petroleum Industrial Company under SINOPEC

1985-1988: Director of the Guangdong Provincial Economic Commission and secretary of its Leading Party Members' Group.

1988-1992: Deputy governor of Guangdong Province (April-July 1990: participated in the training program for provincial and ministerial level cadres at the Central Party School).

1992-1993: Deputy governor of Guangdong Province and concurrently director of the provincial planning commission and secretary of the commission's Leading Party Members' Group.

1993-1994: Standing committee member of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, deputy governor of Guangdong Province and concurrently director of the provincial planning commission and secretary of the commission's Leading Party Members' Group.

1994-1997: Standing committee member of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and deputy governor of Guangdong Province.

1997-1998: Standing committee member of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and secretary of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee.

1998-2000: Deputy secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and secretary of the CPC Shenzhen City Committee.

2000-2001: Deputy secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, secretary of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee, and chairman of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress.

2001-2002: Deputy secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee, acting governor and governor of Shandong Province.

2002-2003: Secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and governor of Shandong Province.

2003-2007: Secretary of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of Shandong Provincial People's Congress.

2007-: Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Tianjin Municipal Committee.

Alternate member of the Fifteenth CPC Central Committees, member of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth CPC Central Committees, and member of the Political Bureau of the Seventeenth CPC Central Committee.

7.Wang Qishan, ethnic Han, native of Tianzhen, Shanxi Province, born in July 1948. Joined the CPC in February 1983 and began working in January 1969. Graduated from the Department of History of Northwest University, majoring in history. With a university education. Senior economist.

Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, deputy secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, mayor of Beijing, executive chairman of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad and deputy secretary of its Leading Party Members' Group.

1969-1971: Worked as an educated youth sent to the countryside at Fengzhuang People's Commune in Yan'an County, Shaanxi Province.

1971-1973: Worked in Shaanxi Provincial Museum.

1973-1976: Student majoring in history of the Department of History of Northwest University.

1976-1979: Worked in Shaanxi Provincial Museum.

1979-1982: Intern researcher at the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

1982-1986: Division chief, researcher (at the deputy department chief level) and deputy director of the Liaison Office, at the Rural Policy Research Office of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and the Rural Development Research Center under the State Council.

1986-1988: Researcher (at the department chief level) of the Rural Policy Research Office of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, director of the Liaison Office of the Rural Development Research Center under the State Council and concurrently director of the National Office for Pilot Areas of Rural Reform, and acting director and director of the Development Institute of the Rural Development Research Center under the State Council.

1988-1989: General manager and secretary of the Party committee of China Rural Trust and Investment Corporation.

1989-1993: Vice governor of the People's Construction Bank of China and member of its Leading Party Members' Group (attended a workshop run by the Party School of the CPC Central Committee for cadres at the provincial and ministerial level from September to November 1992).

1993-1994: Vice governor of the People's Bank of China and member of its Leading Party Members' Group.

1994-1996: Governor of the People's Construction Bank of China and secretary of its Leading Party Members' Group.

1996-1997: Governor of the Construction Bank of China and secretary of its Leading Party Members' Group.

1997-1998: Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee.

1998-2000: Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and vice-governor of Guangdong Province.

2000-2002: Director of the Office for Economic Restructuring under the State Council and secretary of its Leading Party Members' Group.

2002-2003: Secretary of the CPC Hainan Provincial Committee and chairman of the Standing Committee of Hainan Provincial People's Congress.

2003-2004: Deputy secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, acting mayor of Beijing, executive chairman of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad and deputy secretary of its Leading Party Members' Group.

2004-2007: Deputy secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, mayor of Beijing, executive chairman of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad and deputy secretary of its Leading Party Members' Group.

2007-: Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, deputy secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, mayor of Beijing, executive chairman of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad and deputy secretary of its Leading Party Members' Group.

Alternate member of the Fifteenth CPC Central Committee. Member of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Central Committees. Member of the Political Bureau of the Seventeenth CPC Central Committee.