Fewsmith in NYT: Ling Jihua and Power Politics

Joseph Fewsmith, Director of Undergraduate Studies at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, said that the story of disgraced Chinese official Ling Jihua illustrated the state of power politics within the Chinese government.

Fewsmith made his case in an August 3 story in the New York Times entitled “China Seeks Businessman Said to Have Fled to U.S., Further Straining Ties.” The story tells the tale of Ling Wancheng, Ling Jihua’s youngest brother, whose flight has further complicated the sordid narrative of Ling Jihua’s corruption and ouster from Communist party favor.

From the text of the article:

Ling Jihua, 58, rose through the Communist Party’s Youth League under Mr. Hu in the 1980s and eventually served as either deputy or chief of the Central Committee’s General Office from 1999 to 2012. He was Mr. Hu’s personal secretary and closest protégé, and his position came with great powers: the ability to control the guards who protected the senior leadership, a significant voice in top personnel appointments and a central role in carrying out policy.

“It’s really the nerve center for the entire system,” Joseph Fewsmith, a professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University who focuses on Chinese politics, said of Ling Jihua’s former position. “This is the essence of power politics.”

Joseph Fewsmith is Professor of International Relations and Political Science at Boston University. He is the author or editor of eight books, including, most recently, The Logic and Limits of Political Reform in China (January 2013). Learn more about him here.