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Princelings

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Princelings
Traditional ChineseThái tử đảng
Simplified ChineseThái tử đảng
Literal meaningCrown PrinceParty/Faction
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTàizǐdǎng
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingtaai3zi2dong2
Notable Princelings
Xi Jinping
Bo Xilai
Yu Zhengsheng

ThePrincelings(Chinese:Thái tử đảng), also translated as theParty's Crown Princes,are the descendants of prominent and influential senior communist officials in thePeople's Republic of China.It is an informal, and often derogatory, categorization to signify those believed to be benefiting fromnepotismandcronyism,by analogy withcrown princesin hereditary monarchies. Many of its members hold high-level political and business positions in the upper echelons of power.

In contemporary China, "Princelings" are the descendants of seniorChinese Communist Party(CCP) leaders and have themselves risen to high-ranking positions within the CCP. If their parents belong to the first generation of CCP revolutionaries, they are also referred to as the "second Red Generation," "Red Heirs," or "the Red Nobility." Princelings also encompass the sons and daughters of later generations of top leaders, including figures like Jiang Zemin, Li Peng, and Hu Jintao.[1]Princelings exert their influence in the country either by occupying significant roles within the party-state apparatus, which includes the party, government, and military services, or by controlling substantial state-owned enterprises.[2]Opportunities are available to princelings that are not available to common people. Using their powerful connections they have the opportunity to obtain profitable opportunities for themselves and for others. The more aggressive of the princelings have amassed fortunes of hundreds of millions of dollars.[3]However, there is no discernible political cohesion within the group, and as such they should not be compared to other informal groupings such as theShanghai cliqueor theTuanpai( "Youth League clique" ), which resemble intra-party factions with some degree of affinity on policy issues.

Under the People's Republic, the term initially came into use during the Cultural Revolution to describeLin Biao's sonLin Liguoas well as his close friends and allies who had been promoted alongside him into elite positions of thePeople's Liberation Army Air Forcewho were envisioned as the future "Third Generation" leadership of the CCP. Following the death of Lin Liguo in afailed coupand the subsequent purges of this group, the term briefly fell out of use until the 1980s to label the children of theEight Eldersand other First and Second Generation leaders who had been increasingly promoted in the party and were opposed to the efforts of reformersHu YaobangandZhao Ziyangto curb corruption and cronyism. Notable contemporary Princelings includeXi Jinping(son ofXi Zhongxun), China'stop leaderand PartyGeneral Secretarysince 2012, andBo Xilai(son ofBo Yibo), a formerParty Committee SecretaryofChongqingwho was also a member of thePolitburo.

In 1966, theCultural Revolutionled to many Princelings to besent to rural China.Princelings lived in similar villages, worked together, and received their educations together.[1]After some years, the Princelings started to return to home (commonly areas like Shanghai or Beijing) however this crucial period of time had already led many Princelings to form lifelong friendships/partnerships.[1]The political influence of princelings has weakened during the leadership of Xi Jinping.[4]

History

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The term was coined in the early 20th century in theRepublic of China,referring to thesonofYuan Shikai(aself-declared emperor) and hiscronies.It was later used to describe the relatives of the top four nationalist families;Chiang Kai-shek's kin,Soong Mei-ling's kin,Chen Lifu's kin, andKong Xiangxi's kin. After the 1950s, the term was used inTaiwanto describeChiang Ching-kuo,son of Chiang Kai-shek, and his friends. The latest generation of "crown princes" are inmainland China.The first generation of princelings in the PRC were the children of the initial revolutionaries. These children were initially raised in environments where their quality of life far eclipsed that of the ordinary Chinese citizen, often close to other princelings and senior party officials to develop a network of influence.[1]Many senior leaders often lobby directly or indirectly for their descendants and relatives to succeed them.

Xiang Lanxin, professor of international history and politics at theGraduate Institute of International and Development Studies,explains it thus:

Historically, how to control local officials who possessed imperial lineage was always a problem. ThePolitburois equivalent to the inner circle of the imperial household. Its members, if assigned a local administrative position, can easily overrule any opposition in their jurisdictions as no other party officials can match them in rank and prestige.[5]

Some of these crown princes are able to hold senior positions at the vice-ministerial level or above while still in their thirties, for which other ordinary cadres would struggle for decades. For national party positions, princelings often were promoted earlier and into higher positions than their non princeling counterparts.[1]

It is speculated that whenJiang Zeminwas close to the end of his term for his age, he put many Princelings into important positions to appeal to senior leaders of the CCP and win their support for his continued influence. There is a trend towards Princelings taking over power step by step. Of these,Yu Zhengsheng,son ofHuang Jing,former mayor ofTianjin,was already a member of the powerfulpolitburoof the CCP;Wang Qishan,son-in-law ofYao Yilin(former vice premier and member of politburo), mayor of Beijing;Xi Jinping,Bo Xilai,Zhou Xiaochuan,son ofZhou Jiannan(former minister of the First Machinery Ministry and Jiang Zemin's former boss), governor of thePeople's Bank of China,have also occupied important positions since the17th Party Congress.Princelings also hold a steady 5-6% of the National People's Congress and have since the 12th Party Congress.[1]

In 2013 a "sons and daughters" program instituted byJPMorgan Chaseto hire young princelings for positions in its Chinese operations came to light during a bribery investigation by the SEC. At times standards for hiring young princelings were more lenient than those imposed on other Chinese.[6]At least twelve of the princelings were revealed to have used companies in the offshoretax havenof theBritish Virgin Islandsto store wealth in an investigation by theInternational Consortium of Investigative Journalists.[7]

The leader or Godfather of the Princelings wasYe Xuanning,the second son ofYe Jianying.Ye Xuanning was low-profile but influential in political, military and business circles. Many people who ran into troubles looked for Ye and Ye was known for being able to resolve their problems.[8]

The political influence of princelings have declined under the leadership of Xi Jinping, who himself is considered one. The number of princelings in the CCP Central Committee peaked in the18th Central Committee,where there were a total of 41 princelings. By the beginning of the 20th Central Committee, their numbers decreased to 10, with the number further declining to 9 with the expelling ofLi Shangfu.Similarly, there were four out of the seven members of the18th Politburo Standing Committeemembers were princelings; in the20th Politburo Standing Committee,Xi is the only remaining princeling.[4]

Examples

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Li Xiaolin

The following are some of the most famous crown princes:

A list of 226 princelings has been published (see link below).

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Main article:Zhao family (Internet slang)

In late 2015 and early 2016 the term "Zhao family" fromLu Xun's novellaThe True Story of Ah Q,went viral in China after it was used in an anonymous article "Barbarians at the Gate, Zhao Family Inside" to allude to princelings involvement in a business dispute.[14]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefZhang, Tony Huiquan (July 2019)."The Rise of the Princelings in China: Career Advantages and Collective Elite Reproduction".Journal of East Asian Studies.19(2): 169–196.doi:10.1017/jea.2019.11.ISSN1598-2408.
  2. ^Ho, Wing-Chung (September 2013). "The New 'Comprador Class': the re-emergence of bureaucratic capitalists in post-Deng China".Journal of Contemporary China.22(83): 812–827.doi:10.1080/10670564.2013.782128.ISSN1067-0564.
  3. ^abDavid Barboza(October 25, 2012)."Billions in Hidden Riches for Family of Chinese Leader".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on October 27, 2012.RetrievedOctober 27,2012.
  4. ^ab"How China's political clans might determine its future".The Economist.4 April 2024.ISSN0013-0613.Retrieved2024-04-04.
  5. ^Xiang, Lanxin (Apr 20, 2012). "Bo Xilai probe shows up China's outdated system of government".South China Morning Post
  6. ^Jessica Silver-Greenberg; Ben Protess (August 29, 2013)."JPMorgan Hiring Put China's Elite on an Easy Track"(Dealbook blog).The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on September 4, 2013.RetrievedAugust 30,2013.
  7. ^James Ball (January 21, 2014)."China's princelings storing riches in Caribbean offshore haven".The Guardian.RetrievedJanuary 21,2014.
  8. ^"Trung quốc thái tử đảng đích quật khởi: Hồng nhị đại chân chính đích đại lão diệp tuyển ninh".Archivedfrom the original on 2016-07-13.Retrieved2016-07-23.
  9. ^abc"Profiles: China's new leaders".BBC News. 15 November 2012.Archivedfrom the original on 14 November 2013.Retrieved26 October2013.
  10. ^Children of the RevolutionArchived2018-07-01 at theWayback Machine,Jeremy Page,The Wall Street Journal,26 November 2011.
  11. ^Lifting the lid on the secret life of Point Piper's grand princelingArchived2012-06-04 at theWayback Machine,John Garnaut,The Sydney Morning Herald,16 October 2010.
  12. ^A Home Fit for a PrincelingArchived2017-08-16 at theWayback Machine,Dinny McMahon,The Wall Street Journal,26 November 2011.
  13. ^Allen T. Cheng and Li Yanping (3 February 2008)."China May Tap 'Princeling' Wang for Top Economic Policy Post".Bloomberg.Archivedfrom the original on 29 October 2013.Retrieved26 October2013.
  14. ^Kiki Zhao (4 January 2016)."Leveling Criticism at China's Elite, Some Borrow Words From the Past".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 9 January 2016.Retrieved9 January2016.... a disparaging term for China's rich and politically well-connected.
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Library resourcesabout
Princelings
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