Jiang Zemin’s days are numbered. It is only a question of when, not if, the former head of the Chinese Communist Party will be arrested. Jiang officially ran the Chinese regime for more than a decade, and for another decade he was the puppet master behind the scenes who often controlled events. During those decades Jiang did incalculable damage to China. At this moment when Jiang’s era is about to end, Epoch Times here republishes in serial form “Anything for Power: The Real Story of Jiang Zemin,” first published in English in 2011. The reader can come to understand better the career of this pivotal figure in today’s China.
Chapter 15: Jiang Eliminates Opponents Under the Guise of Fighting Corruption; Chen Shui-bian Rises to Power Amidst Fierce Verbal Threats (1st Half of 2000)
Under Jiang Zemin’s reign, corruption throughout the bureaucracy reached unprecedented levels.
He actually found it desirable to rule China with corrupt officials. Winning the allegiance of others always banks on something. Some rely on their wisdom and prestige, others count on popular election. As such Jiang, lacking wisdom and not having been elected, knew that were he to appoint honest and upright officials his incompetence and corrupt ways would be noticed. How Jiang treated Zhu Rongji, who was widely known as an official of integrity and meritorious service, was a telling sign of what kind of officials Jiang was looking for. Corrupt officials, by contrast, were advantageous for Jiang in that they wouldn’t pose a threat—they were disdained by the public.
Ironic it is that corrupt officials have been among the most vocal in China’s fight against corruption. All of the senior officials who fell from power—on charges of graft—in internal political struggles were those who had given strong support to “anti-corruption initiatives.” Jiang, himself the head of arguably China’s most corrupt family, used slogans related to “fighting-corruption” as a means to win popular support and attack political opponents. In Robert Kuhn’s biography of Jiang remarks about fighting corruption abound, though. But actions count louder than words. All of the corrupt officials loyal to Jiang met with swift promotion while those who held different political views were punished cruelly, usually under the guise of “fighting graft.” Others who were useless to Jiang similarly met with punishment, as a warning to others.
In 2000, in the public’s eye, Jiang seized upon the opportunity provided by what has become known as the “Yuanhua Case” to eliminate political opponents and protect those loyal to him. The telling episode deserves discussion.
1. The Startling Yuanhua Smuggling Case
The “Yuanhua case” has a long story behind it. The main culprit of the case is the board chairman of the Yuanhua Group, Lai Changxing. Lai founded the group in 1994 and was thereafter engaged in the practice of smuggling. According to official sources, from 1996 up through the time the case came to light, the Yuanhua group was engaged in some five years of illicit smuggling. The value of goods smuggled by the group totaled 53 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion), with duty fees evaded amounting to 30 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion); this resulted in a loss of 83 billion yuan (US$10 billion) in revenue for the state. At the time the Yuanhua case was regarded as the largest incident of smuggling to have taken place since the CCP came to power in 1949.
Although the Yuanhua smuggling case was widely reported in Hong Kong and Macao, media in China didn’t report on the affair whatsoever, save for marginal mention in one November 1999 Beijing Evening News report. The case began to gain attention in 2000 after being reported on widely by international media such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The L.A. Times.
According to coverage of the case, the matter came to light via an anonymous tip-off that then-premier Zhu Rongji received in March 1999. The source exposed the details of the massive smuggling that the Yuanhua group was carrying out in Xiamen City. The source provided detailed eyewitness testimony and physical evidence. It was in this fashion that the major smuggling case and the astronomical figures it involved came to light.
Regarding this case, Zhu Rongji said, “No matter who is involved, it should be thoroughly investigated regardless of his status.” Jiang chimed in along similar lines, saying that those involved should be punished heavily irrespective of their status. Jiang’s position on the case changed quickly, however, when the investigating task force discovered that the matter was closely connected to Jiang’s subordinates, among whom were Jia Ting'an and Jia Qinglin.
In early 2000, the Hong Kong Economics Times quoted an informed source in Beijing as saying that the 420 Investigation Task Force—the group appointed by the Central Committee of the CCP to investigate the Yuanhua case—was required to complete its investigation before the Two Conferences (the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference) were convened. The stipulation was in place so that authorities could publicize at the two conferences their “significant accomplishments” of fighting graft in what they called “a century-spanning campaign against graft.” The proviso showed that what was really central for Jiang was seizing the occasion of the Yuanhua problem to boost his own standing. At the same time, though, Jiang wished for swift closure to the investigation in that he feared being implicated.
Executing Accomplices Before the Case Was Closed
Multiple departments conducted a joint investigation into the Yuanhua matter in 2000, with involved bodies including the disciplinary inspection committee, supervision department, customs authorities, public security department, prosecutor’s office, court, and finance and taxation units. The smuggling in Xiamen City and the involved dereliction of duties were investigated thoroughly. During the investigations over 600 persons were probed, with nearly 300 being prosecuted in the end for criminal liability.
In 2001 courts at several levels issued a total of 167 verdicts on 269 defendants in connection with the Yuanhua smuggling case. In July, before the case was closed, several persons had already been sentenced to death and executed. Victims included Ye Jichen, the former president of the Xiamen branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China; Wu Yubo, the former section chief of Ship Management section of the East Ferry Management Office of Xiamen Customs; along with Wang Jinting, Jie Peikong, Huang Shanying, Zhuang Mingtian, Li Baomin, and Li Shizhuan, among others.
In such a high-profile case, the execution of 10-plus accomplices before the conclusion of the investigation was tantamount to destroying evidence, making it impossible to ever truly solve the case. This owed fully to the case’s bearing on the close subordinates of Jiang Zemin, who acted as quickly as possible to wipe out sources of incriminating evidence. The acts of killing, disturbing as they were, were in fact then turned around by Jiang and made out to be signs of the Party chief’s strong “determination” and a mark of achievement. Media widely reported the matter in a positive, affirming light.
Jiang Thanked Lai Changxin
During the investigation Jia Ting‘an, who was one of Jiang’s most trusted confidants and the director of Jiang’s office, on one occasion divulged classified information to Lai Changxing. Lai also revealed that he was on very good terms with three of Jiang’s five secretaries, of whom one was Jia Ting’an, the chief secretary.
Many people aren’t familiar with who Jia Ting'an is. Jia was the director of Jiang’s office when Jiang became General Secretary of the CCP. He had before then been Jiang’s secretary when Jiang worked in the Ministry of the Electronics Industry. Jia returned to Shanghai with Jiang in January 1985, later coming back to Beijing with Jiang in June 1989. As Jia was Jiang’s most important secretary and assistant, people called him the “Master Secretary.”
In 2004 Jiang promoted Jia from the director of Jiang’s office to the director of the office of Central Military Commission (CMC). Jiang also recommended that Jia’s military rank be raised directly from that of a colonel to lieutenant general; Jiang’s invoked the pretexts of this being a “special circumstance” and of “benefit to our work.” Members of the CMC said that Jia’s administrative rank was merely that of a bureau director, of which the corresponding military rank is colonel, and that promoting Jia as Jiang had sought to do could result in a revolt in the Commission. Jiang nonetheless insisted on pushing ahead with the move. When Jiang made the recommendation a second time the motion was again tabled in a CMC meeting. The facts suggested that Jia was clearly Jiang’s most trusted subordinate.
Lai Changxing stated on one occasion that, “Jiang’s mansion was inside the Zhongnanhai compound. Jiang lived on one side while his security guards and secretaries occupied the other. Jiang mostly lived in Zhongnanhai, but when the mansion was under renovation in 1997 and 1998 he lived in Diaoyutai.”
When speaking with Sheng Xue, the author of The Dark Secrets behind the Yuanhua Case, Lai said that although he did not have direct contact with Jiang, he had once intended to make a donation to the CMC. Jiang’s secretary reported the matter to Jiang. Lai added, “Jiang said that I didn’t have to do so. He would like me to keep the money for business use. Jiang also expressed to me his appreciation. He knew that I was his secretary’s close friend.”
On one occasion when Jia went to the airport to pick up Jiang after Jiang returned from an overseas trip, Jia told Jiang that Li Jizhou (the former deputy minister of public security) was involved in an automobile smuggling case in Guangdong Province. Then Jia asked another of Jiang’s secretaries to ask Lai whether he was involved in the affair.
Lai elaborated, saying that the second secretary was Jiang’s family steward, and he took charge of everything in Jiang’s family. When asked by the second secretary, Lai replied, “I have absolutely nothing to do with that case.” The secretary said, “If you have nothing to do with the case it will be easier for them to deal with it.”
Afterwards Lai promptly told Li Jizhou about the matter while in Zhuhai City; at that time Li Jizhou was accompanying Zhu Rongji to inspect efforts meant to combat smuggling in Guangdong Province. Along with this Lai made plans to help Li’s girlfriend, Li Shana—a former official at the Ministry of Public Security’s Transportation Department—hide and avoid capture for her involvement, though she was later arrested.
Given that Lai’s relationship with Jia was that close, could one really expect Jiang to bring Lai to justice? As lofty as Jiang may have pitched his anti-corruption rhetoric, his crime fighting campaign was merely a veneer by means of which he could attack his political opponents.
Attacking Ji Pengfei and Liu Huaqing
In the then-sensational Yuanhua case, Jiang’s real targets were Ji Shengde, son of the senior diplomat Ji Pengfei, and Liu Huaqing’s daughter and daughter-in-law.
Jiang is so narrow-minded that he was sure to take revenge on those who verbally made light of him. Two figures were always on his mind: one was Ji Pengfei and the other Liu Huaqing. Both of them had networked with people extensively in their respective fields, but neither cared much about Jiang. Of course, little could two senior figures such as they be blamed for a lack of respect toward the appointed “core” leader. The fact was, Jiang was mediocre and incompetent, skilled at little.
Ji Pengfei was once a heavyweight in China’s foreign affairs system, a key figure in the hand-over of Hong Kong’s sovereignty. He used to hold high-ranking positions, of which were included Deputy Premier, Member of the State Council, Director of the Office of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, Vice Chairman of the National People’s Congress, and Member of the Standing Committee of the Central Advisory Council. Before China opened up to the world, his grandson used to dress in fashionable clothes brought back from overseas and was always in the limelight. Jiang was nothing to Ji. Ji’s son, Ji Shengde, never had anything good to say about Jiang. All of this made Jiang boil beneath the surface. Ji Shengde, who was Ji Pengfei’s only son, was the Deputy Director of the Intelligence Department of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Headquarters of the General Staff. He was on close terms with Lai Changxing. Meanwhile, Liu Huaqing’s daughter was a subordinate of Ji Shengde. This resulted in the two being attacked by Jiang in unison.
In mid March 1999, during which Ji Shengde was in Zhuhai City, he was asked to rush back to Beijing to attend an expanded meeting of the CMC. As soon as he arrived at the conference room, Ji sensed that something was awry. Nobody greeted him. He was then promptly arrested and it looked as if he would be sentenced to death. After his arrest Ji’s father, Ji Pengfei, who was spending his retired life in Xiangshan (a vacation resort near Beijing), wrote Jiang and other top leaders four times, asking Jiang to spare his son the death penalty. The request was rejected. In despair Ji Pengfei committed suicide by swallowing sleeping pills at 1:52 p.m. on Feb. 10, 2000.
With regard to father Ji’s death, the state’s official mouthpiece, the Xinhua News Agency, carried only a brief news item on the matter. Jiang didn’t attend the funeral service. The CMC, the four military departments, and the Ministry of Defense didn’t even send a funeral wreath. With the help of a few retired senior officials and/or their widows, Ji’s widowed wife, Xu Hanbin, was able to hold off her son’s execution for the time being.
After attending his father’s funeral service, Ji Shengde, who was kept in custody at the PLA’s Department of General Staff, felt even more hopeless than before. He attempted to commit suicide himself by slitting his wrist with a toothbrush handle and swallowing more than 70 sleeping pills. The suicide attempt failed, however. Xu Hanbin asked Jiang to grant Ji Shengde medical parole on account of hypertension, but the request was rejected. She then asked for permission to visit Ji three times a week and send meals without restriction. Her request was again rejected. Unable to stand the grief and indignation from this, Xu attempted to commit suicide by swallowing sleeping pills on the evening of Sept. 14, 2001. Xu was rushed to Hospital 301 and rescued, however. Incredibly, Jiang wanted to see destroyed members of a family such as this that had dedicated their lives to the CCP.
As to Liu Huaqing, a former member of the Standing Committee of the Central Politburo and Vice Chairman of the CMC, Jiang had long wanted to remove him from the political arena. Jiang had a hard time finding a proper opportunity. Liu was Jiang’s military “mentor,” the man assigned by Den Xiaoping after the Tiananmen Massacre on grounds that Jiang had never served in the military. But Jiang, someone who promoted generals on a whim, definitely didn’t want anyone giving him constant direction.
After the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989 Deng had appointed Jiang as the General Secretary of the CCP Central Politburo and Chairman of CMC. In light of the fact that Jiang lacked military experience, Deng made a point of assigning two senior generals—Liu Huaqing and Zhang Zhen—as Vice Chairmen of the CMC so that the two could assist Jiang and maintain morale in the military.
After gradually becoming a full-fledged General Secretary, Jiang began to develop his own faction in the military; his means was, as discussed earlier, offering special promotions to young and middle-aged generals. Shortly thereafter Jiang changed his style of non-intervention in military affairs to one of more active involvement. Liu Huaqing and Zhang Zhen expressed discontentment over Jiang’s intervention, insisting that the troops should be led by those with military acumen. One source has even claimed Liu was seen pointing his finger at Jiang in a Politburo meeting, scolding him. Liu took it for granted that he was senior to Jiang, given Deng’s appointment of Liu. But little did Liu realize Jiang was the kind of person who never forgot or forgave any slight.
In 1999, on the occasion of the PRC’s fiftieth anniversary, Jiang ordered that no retired generals should wear military uniforms at the celebratory events. He did this so as to make himself more attention grabbing. Before reviewing the troops, Jiang went up to the rostrum overlooking Tiananmen to greet senior Party, government, and military officials. As soon as Jiang spotted Liu, donning a general’s uniform and making for an awesome presence, he felt that Liu was willfully challenging his personal authority. Jiang confronted Liu, his anger veiled, “Didn’t I say that it’s forbidden to wear the uniform? What’s the matter with you?” Liu didn’t buy it and came back, “You get to wear the uniform without having taken part in a single battle. Then why can’t I wear my uniform?”
Jiang’s anger was such that he was at a loss for words. His face reportedly turned pale and his body quivered with anger. It was not until Jiang was asked to ride on the vehicle from which he would inspect the troops that he calmed down. After the review of the troops Jiang told You Xigui, his bodyguard, that he would teach Liu Huaqing a stern lesson.
Zhang Zhen announced his retirement after the 15th National Congress of the CCP. Deng Xiaoping had passed away by this time, and Jiang was growing more and more powerful in the military after some painstaking, cunning maneuvering. Jiang felt that the time to teach Liu a lesson had arrived. But Jiang couldn’t find fault with Liu. At the time Liu’s daughter, Liu Chaoying—herself a colonel and the Deputy Director of the Fifth Intelligence Division of the PLA’s Department of General Staff—was involved in a scandal involving illegal campaign contributions in the U.S. As Liu Chaoying’s direct supervisor happened to be Ji Shengde—a close friend of Lai Changxing—Jiang saw the campaign fiasco as a wonderful chance to take action.
When Lai Changxing described to Sheng Xue, the author of The Dark Secrets behind the Yuanhua Case, his relationship with Ji Shengde, he said, “No matter whether I was in Beijing, Shenzhen, Xiamen or Hong Kong, he would definitely come to see me as long as he was around. We’ve met up countless times.” Attacking Lai was not Jiang’s real aim. His actual targets were Ji Shengde and Liu Huaqing’s daughter.
Liu Huaqing’s youngest daughter, Liu Chaoying, and his second daughter-in-law, Zheng Li, were the two people Liu loved most dearly. He could hardly take food or rest well after the two were arrested. After turning the matter over in his mind, Liu concluded that he had no choice but to pluck up his courage and intercede with Jiang. But Jiang uttered not so much as a word after receiving a call from Liu about the matter. Jiang’s countenance even revealed a hint of satisfaction after hanging up the phone. Zeng Qinghong had once told Liu, “We can’t stop you from opposing Chairman Jiang, but it’s nothing for us to arrest your daughter-in-law, your wife, and your daughter.”
Liu’s daughter-in-law, Zheng Li, was an officer of the General Political Department of the PLA. After her arrest she was watched by two female soldiers day and night. She once escaped from custody while going to the restroom. When she arrived in Henan Province she called Liu, asking him if he knew of her arrest. When Liu answered that he did know, she realized that nobody could really help her. She then turned herself in to the Central Investigation Department.
When Liu’s daughter, Liu Chaoying, was arrested at a VIP lounge of the Beijing International Airport, she protested with pride, “I am Liu Huaqing’s daughter, how dare you arrest me!” The 10 some soldiers didn’t listen to her. They whisked her off from the airport without saying a word. As Liu Chaoying was arrogant in custody and refused to make a “confession,” an investigator slapped her and verbally abused her. She then realized the gravity of the situation, for she had never been treated in such a manner. She thus began to divulge information.
Jiang personally oversaw all handling of the Liu family’s case, giving in fact direct commands and supporting the investigators. After Liu’s family members were arrested it was said that somebody close to Jiang had once advised, “Give leniency to the descendants of those who have helped you.” In other words, Liu deserved credit for the assistance he had given Jiang over the years. Jiang was furious at the suggestion, however, and told the person to be silent.
