Huang Ju

Huang Ju
黄菊
Huang Ju in 2005
8th First Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China
In office 15 March 2003 – 2 June 2007
Premier	Wen Jiabao
Preceded by	Li Lanqing
Succeeded by	Wu Yi (Acting)
Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai
In office September 1994 – October 2002
Deputy	Xu Kuangdi (mayor)
Preceded by	Wu Bangguo
Succeeded by	Chen Liangyu
Mayor of Shanghai
In office April 1991 – February 1994
Leader	Wu Bangguo (party secretary)
Preceded by	Zhu Rongji
Succeeded by	Xu Kuangdi
Personal details
Born	(1938-09-28)28 September 1938 China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party (1966–2007)
Spouse	Yu Huiwen
Children	1 son, 1 daughter
Alma mater	Tsinghua University
Signature

Huang Ju (28 September 1938 – 2 June 2007) was a Chinese politician and a high-ranking leader in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the CCP, China's top decision making body, between 2002 until his death in 2007, and also served as the first-ranked vice premier of China beginning in 2003. He died in office before he could complete his terms on the Standing Committee and as vice premier.^[1]

An electrical engineer by trade, Huang was a close confidante of party leader Jiang Zemin, to whom he owed his rise to power. He served as mayor of Shanghai between 1991 and 1994, then Communist Party secretary of the metropolis between 1994 and 2002. Huang's career in Shanghai and his family's alleged involvement in several corruption cases in the city generated controversy. After 2002, Huang emerged as one of the least popular and most partisan members of China's top leadership, and was named by observers as a "core member" of the Shanghai clique.

Early life and career

Huang was born in

Huang was employed as a technician in the foundry section of the Shanghai Artificial-board Machinery Factory (上海人造板机器厂) from 1963 to 1967. From 1967 to 1977, Huang worked as Technician in the power section of the Shanghai Zhonghua Metallurgical Factory (上海中华冶金厂), where he also served as deputy lead of the production party group. He became deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee (during the Cultural Revolution, the highest day-to-day authority), Deputy Plant Manager, while working as an engineer, from 1977 to 1980. He was Assistant Manager of the Shanghai Petrochemical General Machinery Company (上海市石化通用机械制造公司) from 1980 to 1982. From 1982 to 1983 he was Deputy Commissioner of the Shanghai First Mechanical and Electrical Industry Bureau (上海市第一机电工业局).[3]

Shanghai politics

From 1983 to 1984, Huang Ju served as a standing member of the

During Huang's term of party chief of Shanghai, he kept the city's party organization in line,[6] and is remembered by some as having raised the income of Shanghai residents. The Pudong New Area also saw explosive growth under Huang.^[7] While Shanghai's economic growth continued during Huang Ju's time as the city's leader, most observers credit Shanghai's success to the work of Zhu Rongji and Xu Kuangdi. Among the mayors of Shanghai in the late 20th century, Huang was the least popular. During his term as Shanghai party chief, Huang often criticized mayor Xu Kuangdi, and opposed Xu's holding higher office.^[8] Because Xu was a popular figure in Shanghai, Huang's open suppression of Xu damaged his reputation among ordinary residents. In Shanghai political circles, Huang earned a reputation as being extremely adept at crafting relationships with his superiors.^[4] However, both Huang's successor Chen Liangyu and Jiang Zemin evaluated Huang's term in Shanghai with gushing praise, stating that Huang was instrumental in contributing to Shanghai's economic growth.^[4]

Controversies

In May 1994, after Huang's installation as the Shanghai party chief, his wife Yu Huiwen, along with Shanghai official Chen Tiedi began a charity organization allegedly for money laundering for Huang's wife and close colleagues, who received "donations" from the business elite. Although some of this money did indeed go to charity, there was a large amount of funds unaccounted for.^[9] It was unclear what Huang's involvement was in this process, but it was clear that his power in Shanghai gave license to his family.

Huang was also believed to be implicated in the Shanghai real estate scandals involving Zhou Zhengyi, one of Shanghai's business elite. Huang did little to curb monopolies in Shanghai's booming real estate sector. Public protests resulted from residents being evicted from their homes (with little or no compensation) to make way for new construction. Zhou was eventually charged with multiple counts of fraud, but only sentenced to three years in prison, which analysts speculated was due to Huang exerting his influence on the municipal courts.^[5] In addition, Huang's wife, Yu Huiwen, controlled the Shanghai pension fund, and was linked to Zhang Rongkun, who was at the centre of allegations of misappropriation of the fund's money.^[6] Huang's brother, who was made a high-ranking executive of a Pudong development firm, also moved funds for personal use.^[10]

Ascension to Beijing

Huang's patron, general secretary Jiang Zemin, was due to leave his party leadership post in 2002, handing the reins of power to a

Huang's appointment was controversial, not only because of his poor reputation in Shanghai, but also because he was seen as highly partisan, and that he was tapped for promotion solely due to his coziness with Jiang and not as a result of tangible achievements.[5] Zhu Rongji, then the outgoing premier and who had worked with Huang in Shanghai, was reportedly opposed to Huang's elevation.^[4] Back in 1997, Huang's election to the 15th Central Committee received only 1,455 votes in favour, out of 2,074 votes cast,^[11] and some 300 votes against, unusually low in Chinese national politics. This meant that nearly one third of party delegates did not even approve of Huang's central committee membership. In 2002, of the full members of the Central Committee, Huang again received the lowest number of votes of anyone elected, meaning there was a real possibility that Huang would not have entered the Standing Committee at all, since Standing Committee members must be selected from the Central Committee.^[12]

Nevertheless, on 15 November 2002, Huang was officially named a member of the 9-man Politburo Standing Committee, joining other Jiang associates such as Jia Qinglin, Zeng Qinghong, and Li Changchun on the supreme body. In March 2003, he was confirmed by the National People's Congress as vice premier of the State Council, ranking first.

His position as first vice premier was considered a

Huang's political fate seemed to hang in the balance when his close former colleague Chen Liangyu was removed from the Politburo and put under investigation for corruption as part of the Shanghai pension scandal in 2006. By this time, Huang was already ill and cut back on public appearances. There was speculation that Huang would be implicated in the scandal.^[13]

Illness

In February 2006, the South China Morning Post reported that Huang was seriously ill, and was expected to step down. Although some government officials said he had pancreatic cancer, the party did not, at the time, disclose the nature of his condition.^[14][15] On 17 March, sources reported he was near death.^[16] Huang attended a Science and Technology forum in Beijing on 5 June, temporarily reducing speculation that he was soon going to die.^[17]

After giving a keynote speech at the State-Owned Enterprise (SOE) executives' conference on 5 January 2007, he was notably absent at the Central Conference on Financial Affairs later on that month.

Some media sources reported Huang's death as early as May, though the initial reports turned out to be false. To reduce speculation, by 9 May, the authorities closed off the south-west wing of the 301 Military Hospital, and directed that all news related to Huang on television and on the internet follow official releases from official state news agency Xinhua.^{[21] [22]} False reports of Huang's death surfaced twice thereafter; some suggest his illness was used as an opportunity by internet users to vent about social and political problems.^[23] Despite his being incapacitated, Huang was elected as one of Shanghai's local party representatives to the Party's 17th Party Congress on 29 May.^[24]

Death

On 2 June 2007, Huang Ju died in Beijing. In unprecedented fashion, the English and Chinese versions of his obituary were relayed simultaneously to the country and the world only a few hours after his death, at around 6:30 am Beijing time.

In his concise official obituary, he was hailed as a "long-tested and faithful Communist fighter and an outstanding leader of the party and the state."[26]^[27] This posthumous designation was used for most of Communist China's high-ranking leaders. The official state media called Huang an "important member of the Central Committee Leadership under General Secretary Hu Jintao who dedicated his heart to the development of the Party and the State, and offered all of his intellectual strength and power for the cause." Former Party general secretary Jiang Zemin, in official footage, was in tears as he shook the hands of Huang's widow Yu Huiwen.^[28]

Websites reporting Huang Ju's death forbade discussions, and internet forums censored all negative comments and speculation about Huang Ju's political life.^[23] In Shanghai, where Huang was one of the city's former Mayors, reception of his death was cold.^{[29][unreliable source?]} Among the mayors of Shanghai, Huang received the lowest ratings, while his contemporaries, Zhu Rongji and Xu Kuangdi, were more popular. There were no public displays of mourning in Shanghai.^[23]

Huang was the first

Huang's death opened a vacancy on the Politburo Standing Committee, which signaled an opportunity for the consolidation of Hu Jintao's power during the 17th Party Congress held in October 2007.^[22] However, most observers believed Huang's death would have a limited effect on Chinese politics, because Huang was absent from public life for over a year prior to his death. Huang's seat on the PSC was left vacant until a newly minted PSC at 17th Party Congress, which saw Li Keqiang being slated to take over for the position of first-ranked vice premier; in the interim, Wu Yi took over some of Huang's former responsibilities at the State Council as its vice premier.

Huang's death was nevertheless seen as a major political blow to the

Huang's legacy was the subject of a photo collection book published by the Shanghai People's Press in December 2012, entitled Huang Ju. The book's title was inscribed with the calligraphy of Jiang Zemin. The book contained photos of Huang from his early years to his days as vice premier. Shanghai party chief Han Zheng attended the book launch event.[35] The event signalled that Huang continued to be regarded positively in an official capacity.

Personal

Huang was married to Yu Huiwen (余慧文), who was an executive on a Shanghai Pensions board, and speculated to be involved in corruption cases in the city.

In February 1995, his daughter, Daphne Huang (黄凡), married James Fang (方以伟), the son of Florence Fang (方李邦琴).

See also

• Politics of the People's Republic of China

References