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Wow! Mayor at 29: Was it guanxi?
By Chen Siwu and Wei Mengjia |
July 1, 2009, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
ZHOU Senfeng is discovering the downside of fame. The 29-year-old prodigy in politics has been under media scrutiny after winning election on June 21 as the mayor of Yicheng City in central China's Hubei Province.
He was the only candidate for mayor of the city of 560,000. His name was put forward by the Yicheng Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
In a secret ballot, Zhou won unanimously, pocketing all votes by 221 deputies to the Yicheng City People's Congress, the local legislature.
Some critics say that the unanimous vote was just too good to be true, and many wonder how Zhou got so far, so fast. Zhou says he was born into an ordinary peasant family in Shenhou Town in neighboring Henan Province.
He was recruited by the Xiangfan City Government in Hubei after the dismissal of more than 70 senior officials linked to a major corruption scandal.
In an effort to rebuild the official promotion system, upper-level provincial officials introduced Zhou and 181 other "high quality" graduates of Tsinghua University to fill the vacancies left by the sacked officials.
After acquiring a graduate degree in management science and engineering in 2004, Zhou started his political career in July that year when he was appointed by the Xiangfan City government as deputy director of the city's construction committee.
Zhou also moved among five government departments, dealing with urban renovation, city planning, investment promotion and worksite safety.
In May 2009, the Xiangfan Municipal Party nominated Zhou as the sole candidate for the Yicheng city mayor's post, following a procedure that superior officials described as "democratic recommendation" and "public notification."
According to an official report by the Organization Department of the CPC Xiangfan City Committee, Zhou's performance in every post was "excellent" and "the entire process tallied with regulations on cadre selection and promotion".
"It is the first time I've seen an election with unanimous votes," said a female deputy who voted for Zhou. She preferred not be identified due to the controversy over Zhou's election.
"Deputies spoke highly of the new mayor and expressed great confidence in him," the deputy said, adding she was impressed by Zhou's straight talk "without any official cliches."
But the vote was barely over before questions were raised about Zhou's age and experience.
Stage for the young
It is unusual for officials in their 20s to be elected as a city mayor in China, where officials don't usually don't attain such positions until they are in their 30s or 40s.
As mayor, Zhou's responsibilities cover almost every aspect of governance, ranging from economic development and family planning to handling public complaints and petitions. It's a challenging job, even for senior officials with much more experience.
Zhou was reluctant to put himself directly in the media spotlight, though many Chinese officials find themselves engulfed by public attention.
In an e-mail interview, Zhou said that he understood the reasons for the heated debate over his age and relative inexperience.
"As a young mayor born after 1980, I lag far behind senior officials in terms of experience," Zhou said.
He said public concerns about his age were "reasonable" but stressed: "What young officials need is a stage where they can perform. We will develop better given such a stage."
A survey on sina.com found that more than two-thirds of the 20,000-plus respondents said they "accept Zhou's election as mayor at such a young age as long as the election was fair and square."
But one-quarter of the respondents were doubtful, saying the mayor was too young and must have gained his post through guanxi, meaning hidden connections, favoritism or nepotism.
Zhou said that he and his wife were both from ordinary families and that he didn't have any special ties to superior officials.
Huo Wenbin, Zhou's father-in-law, defended Zhou's family background.
"Senfeng has no special background, nor is he a genius," Huo said. "Many people have a distorted view because of the existence of corrupt officials."
Some political professors and observers agreed.
"What matters is not the age," said Tan Yiyan, executive vice president of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, where senior officials are trained before they assume higher positions, "but working experience in grass-roots government and one's ability to tackle complicated problems."
"If an official's mind is with the people and ready to help them pursue a better life, he or she is a good cadre," Tan said.
Ding Huang, professor of political science and public administration at Wuhan University, said the questions reflected traditional ways of thinking about cadres.
"We should strengthen supervision and establish accountability to prevent abuse of power and corruption of young officials," he said.
(The authors are senior writers at Xinhua news agency.)
He was the only candidate for mayor of the city of 560,000. His name was put forward by the Yicheng Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
In a secret ballot, Zhou won unanimously, pocketing all votes by 221 deputies to the Yicheng City People's Congress, the local legislature.
Some critics say that the unanimous vote was just too good to be true, and many wonder how Zhou got so far, so fast. Zhou says he was born into an ordinary peasant family in Shenhou Town in neighboring Henan Province.
He was recruited by the Xiangfan City Government in Hubei after the dismissal of more than 70 senior officials linked to a major corruption scandal.
In an effort to rebuild the official promotion system, upper-level provincial officials introduced Zhou and 181 other "high quality" graduates of Tsinghua University to fill the vacancies left by the sacked officials.
After acquiring a graduate degree in management science and engineering in 2004, Zhou started his political career in July that year when he was appointed by the Xiangfan City government as deputy director of the city's construction committee.
Zhou also moved among five government departments, dealing with urban renovation, city planning, investment promotion and worksite safety.
In May 2009, the Xiangfan Municipal Party nominated Zhou as the sole candidate for the Yicheng city mayor's post, following a procedure that superior officials described as "democratic recommendation" and "public notification."
According to an official report by the Organization Department of the CPC Xiangfan City Committee, Zhou's performance in every post was "excellent" and "the entire process tallied with regulations on cadre selection and promotion".
"It is the first time I've seen an election with unanimous votes," said a female deputy who voted for Zhou. She preferred not be identified due to the controversy over Zhou's election.
"Deputies spoke highly of the new mayor and expressed great confidence in him," the deputy said, adding she was impressed by Zhou's straight talk "without any official cliches."
But the vote was barely over before questions were raised about Zhou's age and experience.
Stage for the young
It is unusual for officials in their 20s to be elected as a city mayor in China, where officials don't usually don't attain such positions until they are in their 30s or 40s.
As mayor, Zhou's responsibilities cover almost every aspect of governance, ranging from economic development and family planning to handling public complaints and petitions. It's a challenging job, even for senior officials with much more experience.
Zhou was reluctant to put himself directly in the media spotlight, though many Chinese officials find themselves engulfed by public attention.
In an e-mail interview, Zhou said that he understood the reasons for the heated debate over his age and relative inexperience.
"As a young mayor born after 1980, I lag far behind senior officials in terms of experience," Zhou said.
He said public concerns about his age were "reasonable" but stressed: "What young officials need is a stage where they can perform. We will develop better given such a stage."
A survey on sina.com found that more than two-thirds of the 20,000-plus respondents said they "accept Zhou's election as mayor at such a young age as long as the election was fair and square."
But one-quarter of the respondents were doubtful, saying the mayor was too young and must have gained his post through guanxi, meaning hidden connections, favoritism or nepotism.
Zhou said that he and his wife were both from ordinary families and that he didn't have any special ties to superior officials.
Huo Wenbin, Zhou's father-in-law, defended Zhou's family background.
"Senfeng has no special background, nor is he a genius," Huo said. "Many people have a distorted view because of the existence of corrupt officials."
Some political professors and observers agreed.
"What matters is not the age," said Tan Yiyan, executive vice president of the Party School of the Central Committee of the CPC, where senior officials are trained before they assume higher positions, "but working experience in grass-roots government and one's ability to tackle complicated problems."
"If an official's mind is with the people and ready to help them pursue a better life, he or she is a good cadre," Tan said.
Ding Huang, professor of political science and public administration at Wuhan University, said the questions reflected traditional ways of thinking about cadres.
"We should strengthen supervision and establish accountability to prevent abuse of power and corruption of young officials," he said.
(The authors are senior writers at Xinhua news agency.)
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