Less guanxi, please

Senior Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged the Party to improve its criteria for selecting and appointing cadres in the process of building the Party in the new era. Xi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), made the remarks recently at a workshop attended by delegates from the Party's Organization Department in Beijing.

Cadre -- In 1987 the party and government cadre (ganbu) system, the rough equivalent of the civil service system in many other countries, was entering the final stages of a massive overhaul aimed at transforming the bureaucracy into an effective instrument of national policy. The term cadre refers to a public official holding a responsible or managerial position, usually full time, in party and government. A cadre may or may not be a member of the CCP, although a person in a sensitive position would almost certainly be a party member.

Guanxi -- describes the basic dynamic in personalized networks of influence, and is a central concept in Chinese society. In Western media, the pinyin romanization of this Chinese word is becoming more widely used instead of the two common translations—"connections" and "relationships"—as neither of those terms sufficiently reflect the wide cultural implications that guanxi describes.

It's hard to imagine that anyone but Party cadres and academics outside of China would pay attention to this, but Xinhua featured it in the "Window on China" section of its web site.It's another vague statement of opposition to corruption. Action takes place in a totally different world -- maybe not this world.When Party leader Xi talks about the criteria that should be used for "selecting and appointing cadres," what is he saying about the criteria now used?

"Senior Chinese leader Xi Jinping [above] has urged the Party to improve its criteria for selecting and appointing cadres in the process of building the Party in the new era...

"The Party should set officials' integrity, performance and their dedication to their work as an important criteria for selecting and appointing cadres, Xi said."The CPC's 17th national congress put forward the aim of increasing public trust in cadre selection and appointment...

"The Party should give special attention to cadres who have long been working diligently in places fraught with hardships and difficulties, and promote cadres who work hard, enjoy popular support and have political integrity, Xi stressed.

"He vowed to severely punish crooked Party officials linked to corruption and dereliction of duty."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/20/content_7632876.htm