Elite Status in the People’s Republic of China: Its formation and maintenance Grace Lauren Chao Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 @2013 Grace L. Chao All rights reserved ABSTRACT Elite Status in the People’s Republic of China: Its Formation and Maintenance Grace L. Chao The goal of this dissertation is to determine how elite status in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is formed, maintained, and perpetuated. The role of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is studied to see how the CCP confirms elite status. The political, military, and commercial elites form the membership of the national leadership bodies of the CCP and the PRC government, and as such, they hold the most influence. The political elites hold the most status and prestige. Other elites exist, namely in the form of scholarly, artistic, and born elites. It is important to realize the role of the CCP and PRC government in confirming PRC elite status. Political, commercial, and military elites claim elite status by their position in the CCP and government hierarchy. Born elites gain their status from being related via blood or marriage to political, commercial, or military elites. Artistic and scholarly elites derive their status from how closely they are aligned to the CCP and government. TABLE OF CONTENTS Glossary …………………………………………………………………………………. iii List of Tables and Illustrations…………………………………………………………. iv Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………v Introduction………………………………………………………………………………....1 Research Questions………………………………………………………………….3 Significance of PRC Elites………………………………………………………….3 Guanxi……..……………………………………………………………………….8 Corruption……………………………………………………………………….. 26 Discussion of Chapters………………………………………………………….. 29 Chapter One – Methodology…………………………………………………………… 33 Defining Elites……...……………………………………………………………. 33 Participant Observation………………………………….……………………... 37 The Sampling Procedure………………………………………………………... 43 Research Site…………………………………………………………………….. 43 Chronology of Research………………………………………………………… 47 Limitations of Research………………………………………………………… 48 Chapter Two – Political Elites…………………………………………………………... 55 Chapter Three – Commercial Elites………………………………………………….. 134 Chapter Four – Military Elites……………………………………………………….. 171 Chapter Five – Scholarly Elites……………………………………………………….. 202 Chapter Six – Born Elites………………….……………………………………………..244 Chapter Seven – Artistic Elites……………………………………………….…………..258 i Chapter Eight – Conclusion…………………………………………………………... 274 References……………………………………………………………………………… 289 Appendix A: Map by Provinces of China……………………………………………. 307 Appendix B: Schedule for Interviews……………………………………………………308 Appendix C: Schedule for Life Histories …...……………………………………….. 309 Appendix D: List of Informants by Category …………………………..……...………..310 Appendix E: Brief Bios of Elites Quoted..……………………………………..…………322 Appendix F: IRB Forms……………………………………………………….………….327 ii GLOSSARY CAS Chinese Academy of Sciences CASS Chinese Academy of Social Sciences CC Central Committee CCIEE China Center for International Economic Exchanges CCP or Chinese Communist Party CPC Or Communist Party of China CCYL Chinese Communist Youth League CDIC Central Discipline Inspection Commission CGO Central General Office CICIR China Institute of Contemporary International Relations CMC Central Military Commission COD Central Organization Department CPS Central Party School GAD General Armaments Department IR International Relations KMT Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) MD Military District MPS Ministry of Public Security MR Military Region MSS Ministry of State Security NDMC National Defense Mobilization Committee NDU National Defense University NPC National People’s Congress OD Organization Department PAP Chinese People’s Armed Police Force PB Politburo PBSC Politburo Standing Committee PLA People’s Liberation Army PRC People’s Republic of China SASAC State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission SOE State Owned Enterprises Taizi Princelings Tuanpai Chinese word for Chinese Communist Youth League UN United Nations WTO World Trade Organization iii LIST OF TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS Table Intro.1……………………………………………………………………6-7 Table 1.1………………………………………………………………………..53 Table 2.1………………………………………………………………………..55 Table 2.2………………………………………………………………………...57 Table 2.3…………………………………………………………………………60 Table 2.4…………………………………………………………………………62 Table 2.5…………………………………………………………………………64 Table 2.6…………………………………………………………………………66 Table 2.7…………………………………………………………………………72 Table 2.8…………………………………………………………………………75 Table 2.9…………………………………………………………………………76 Table 3.0…………………………………………………………………………106 Table 4.1…………………………………………………………………………193 Table 4.2…………………………………………………………………………196-7 Illustration 7.1 ……………………………………………………………………261 Illustration 7.2 ……………………………………………………………………264 Illustration 7.3 ……………………………………………………………………265 Illustration 7.4 ……………………………………………………………………266 Illustration 7.5 ……………………………………………………………………271 Table 8. 1…….……………………………………………………………………283-5 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have so many people to thank. First and foremost, I want to thank my Mom, Ruth MuLan Chu Chao. She showed me how to be a mom and a graduate student; she encouraged me to pursue my dream of obtaining a Ph.D. I would love to thank my wonderful husband, Gordon A. Hartogensis. His love, dedication, patience, and support provided me with the time, funds, and energy to live my dream of becoming a Ph.D. Words can not describe how important he is to me. Of course, I want to thank the support of my father, Dr. James S.C. Chao, and sister, Angela A. Chao, whose love, dedication, support, and feedback provided me with the connections and insight that were necessary to begin and to complete this research. To my academic mentor, Prof. Charles C. Harrington, without his advice, patience, unwavering support, counsel, and guidance, I would not be writing this today. Prof. Harrington was the best mentor a student could ask for; I feel very fortunate to have worked with him. I want to thank Prof. George Bond whose boundless encouragement kept me going. I would also like to thank Dr. Carmen Guanipa whose advice started me on this path in 2001. Last but not least, I thank my two daughters for being so patient and sharing me with the Ph.D. I hope to make you as proud of me as I am of you two. I hope I inspire you as my mom continues to inspire me. v Dedicated to my mother: Ruth Mu-lan Chu Chao, MA Her life inspires me every day. To my daughters: Alexia S. & Penelope B. Hartogensis With the hope that I inspire them like my mother inspires me. vi 1 INTRODUCTION Background It is August 2008; the Beijing Olympics are about to begin. I am in the company of friends who have been invited to attend as official guests of the government. In my chauffeur driven car, I am bombarded with images of modern China. The highway is wide and freshly paved. There are no bicycles, the ubiquitous mode of transportation in the 1980s-90s. The roads are filled with cars, foreign and new. The sky is clear and blue. I then notice the huge billboards surrounding the highway sporting the official Olympic slogan, One World, One Dream. Images of the red-figured Olympic logo and multi-colored Olympic rings dominate the scenery as I travel to my hotel from the airport. I am surprised by how quickly and smoothly our car is moving since Beijing traffic is notoriously cumbersome. Traveling twenty miles can take an hour by car. I realize our car has been driving in a specially marked lane. For now, we are the only car in this lane. I ask my driver about this special lane; he replies that this is a special, designated lane for Olympic officials and other assorted VIP’s. He points to his car’s rear view mirror and directs my attention to the placard hanging from it. It gives the driver the right to drive in these specially marked lanes that are congestion free. Fortunately, through the access provided by my father’s business connections and my sibling’s diplomatic role, I find myself in this privileged position. This is the face of modern China, where socialism with Chinese characteristics has created a ruling stratum of elites. My research will illuminate who the PRC (People’s Republic of China) elites are and how their elite status is formed and maintained. I am especially interested in the role of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the configuration of PRC elites. 2 When Laura Nader (1969) wrote “Studying Up” she implored the academic community to study those who held power: Studying “up” as well as “down” would lead us to ask many “common sense” questions in reverse. Instead of asking why some people are poor, we would ask why other people are so affluent?...How has it come to be, we might ask, that anthropologists are more interested in why peasants don’t change than why the auto industry doesn’t innovate, or why the Pentagon or universities cannot be more organizationally creative? (p. 289) Charlotte A. Davies (2002) concurred and cited Nader’s research in this following excerpt: The earliest calls for a refocusing of the subjects of ethnographic study were concerned to turn the enquiry on to the powerful, to study up, and they suggested that such a shift in attention would have fundamental consequences for theoretical development in the field. (p.36) I have been similarly inspired to conduct “studying up” research by the works and the words of both Nader and Davies. I intend to take the research further by not just “studying up”