Since the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012, several accomplished Chinese systems engineers from the China Aerospace Science and Technology (CASC) and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC) have been promoted to take on provincial leadership positions. The rise of technocrats in Chinese politics is certainly not a new phenomenon. Tracing back to influential figures such as Qian Xuesen and Ding Henggao, China’s space and missile industry has enjoyed high political standing since the late 1950s. Engineer-politicians dominated the CCP’s leadership during the Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao years.
However, Xi Jinping’s Politburo Standing Committee today only sees Xi himself with a questionable engineering background while all six other members are “political theorists or economists.” The re-emergence of a possible “aerospace clique (航天系)” in CCP politics under Xi’s reign is of particular interest yet largely escaped notice. Who are they? What are the political implications?
Zhang Hongwen: From YJ-18 to Anhui
A former deputy director of the China Aerospace Science & Industry Corporation Limited (CASIC), Zhang Hongwen, was assigned as a vice governor of Anhui Province in September 2020. He was elected as a member of the provincial Party Committee in November 2021 and carries a provincial/ministerial-level civil service grade. His vice governor portfolio includes military-civil fusion and promotion of technological innovation.
He is frequently seen inspecting provincial industrial enterprises, promoting Xi’s S&T directives, and pressing for the commercialization of technology innovation. Zhang also oversees major research programs at universities in Anhui, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Hefei Institute of Physical Science. In April 2021, Zhang inspected artificial intelligence work being carried out at the renowned University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei. In December, he convened the second China Fusion Energy Conference, an event co-hosted by China Academy of Engineering Physics, China’s sole supplier of nuclear weapons to the People’s Liberation Army.
Before his assignment to Anhui, Zhang served as a deputy director of CASIC and directed the CASIC Third Academy, which is responsible for research, development, production, and sustainment of cruise missiles. A native of Shaanxi province, Zhang was awarded a doctorate degree from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in launch vehicle design. He spent most of his career working within the Third Academy’s Third Design Department and was assigned increasingly greater responsibility for cruise missile systems engineering, allegedly including serving as deputy chief designer for the Yingji-18 (YJ-18) supersonic anti-ship cruise missile. Zhang reportedly went on stage to receive the prestigious National Science and Technology (S&T) Progress Special Grade Award in 2017, alongside Zhu Kun and Li Lixin, the chief designer and program manager of the project, respectively.
Ma Xingrui: Aerospace Spirit Shines Over Xinjiang
If Zhang Hongwen represents future leaders of the “aerospace clique,” Ma Xingrui may inch closer to the CCP’s center of gravity much sooner. Dubbed the “Aerospace Marshall (航天少帅),” Ma succeededChen Quanguo as secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region party committee in December 2021. Ma’s assignment to a politically charged position at this time suggests central party organs in Beijing place significant trust in him.
Before his current assignment in Xinjiang, Ma served as governor of Guangdong, one of China’s wealthiest provinces. Before his assignment to Guangdong, he directed the State Administration for Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA). He served concurrently as a vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. A native of Heilongjiang, he was a researcher at the Harbin Institute of Technology before his 1996 assignment to the CASC Fifth Academy, also known as the China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). While at CAST, Ma served concurrently as program manager and chief designer of the chief designer and chief administrator of the Shijian-5 satellite and helped managed the Chang’e-3 lunar exploration program.
Below is a list of aerospace politicians who are currently active in the Chinese political systems. The Chinese definition of “aerospace” may be limited to space and missiles; aviation is treated as a different and separate system. This list, however, uses “aerospace” in a Western sense that covers “everything that flies,” and includes key figures in Chinese aviation for references purposes.
List of Chinese Aerospace-Politicians (as of February 2022)
Standing committee member of Shaanxi (2021-) Deputy governor of Shaanxi (2020-)
N/A
The Political Logic Behind an “Aerospace Clique”
The re-emergence of an “aerospace clique” largely happened between the 18th and 19th Party Congress as Xi Jinping consolidated his absolute power within the CCP. What are the political assessments of this phenomenon?
First, the nuclear, space, and missile industries carry significant prestige in China, so the promotion of an “aerospace clique” helps boost the CCP’s legitimacy. Xi’s pursuit of the Chinese “space dream” has paid political dividends to those who worked to advance his agenda. Almost all of the current aerospace-politicians listed above either played direct or supervisory role in the development and implementation of key aerospace programs, such as China’s manned space, lunar exploration, or, in Zhang Qingwei’s case, the C919 “big aircraft” project, and for Zhang Hongwen, systems engineering leadership for the YJ-18. Political appointees from CASC tend to dominate. Yuan Jiajun, Zhang Qingwei, Ma Xingrui, and Xu Dazhe all served as senior executives of CASC prior to their career transitions into provincial politics.
Second, from an organizational point of view, transplanting aerospace technocrats into provincial government possibly helps reduce nepotism and corruption at the local level. Aerospace engineers and project managers have long worked in relatively shielded environment with fewer interactions with local politics and interest groups. Moreover, their broad exposure to how Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) function also brings them practical experience that is readily translatable to the management of industrial enterprises at the provincial level. Their defense industry experiences also make them perfect agents to facilitate and implement Xi Jinping’s MCF strategy at the provincial level, as Zhang Hongwen demonstrates.
Third, the making of an “aerospace clique” might help reduce promotion pressure within the CASC and CASIC system. Although this is largely speculative, the high tempo, prevalent nepotism, and cut-throat competition within Chinese SOEs likely fuels discontent. Creating more pathways for aerospace engineers to advance in their career ladder may help with morale and stability of the workforce.
SOE executives moving into local politics is not a phenomenon unique to the aerospace industry. Shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has produced at least two deputy provincial governors in recent years. Both born in the 1960s, Guo Xiwen currently serves in Guizhou, while Tan Zuojun, formerly a deputy governor and party standing committee member of Liaoning, currently works as Hao Peng’s deputy at SASAC. Xie Weijiang, with a power and electric industry background, was appointed a deputy governor of Hunan in 2020.
Conclusion
The upcoming 20th Party Congress will serve as the ultimate test for the prowess of the nascent “aerospace clique” in CCP politics. For China, aerospace is both substance and symbol. It not only showcases marvelous technological advancements to earn the CCP respect and influence externally, but “aerospace spirit” – often associated with traits such as diligence, precision, and sacrifice – has become a political symbol in Xi Jinping’s politics. The upward mobility of aerospace-politicians in recent years provided useful insights into a possible, albeit limited, rejuvenation of technocracy in an era that increasingly prioritizes ideology over meritocracy. May a cool-headed and pragmatic “aerospace clique” prevail over the ideologues.
The author thanks Mark Stokes, Dennis Blasko, Ken Allen, and Lt. Col. Justin Settles for useful comments on previous drafts.
OTTAWA – The federal agency that investigates election infractions found insufficient evidence to support suggestions Beijing wielded undue influence against the Conservatives in the Vancouver area during the 2021 general election.
The Commissioner of Canada Elections’ recently completed review of the lingering issue was tabled Tuesday at a federal inquiry into foreign interference.
The review focused on the unsuccessful campaign of Conservative candidate Kenny Chiu in the riding of Steveston-Richmond East and the party’s larger efforts in the Vancouver area.
It says the evidence uncovered did not trigger the threshold to initiate a formal investigation under the Canada Elections Act.
Investigators therefore recommended that the review be concluded.
A summary of the review results was shared with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and the RCMP. The review says both agencies indicated the election commissioner’s findings were consistent with their own understanding of the situation.
During the exercise, the commissioner’s investigators met with Chinese Canadian residents of Chiu’s riding and surrounding ones.
They were told of an extensive network of Chinese Canadian associations, businesses and media organizations that offers the diaspora a lifestyle that mirrors that of China in many ways.
“Further, this diaspora has continuing and extensive commercial, social and familial relations with China,” the review says.
Some interviewees reported that this “has created aspects of a parallel society involving many Chinese Canadians in the Lower Mainland area, which includes concerted support, direction and control by individuals from or involved with China’s Vancouver consulate and the United Front Work Department (UFWD) in China.”
Investigators were also made aware of members of three Chinese Canadian associations, as well as others, who were alleged to have used their positions to influence the choice of Chinese Canadian voters during the 2021 election in a direction favourable to the interests of Beijing, the review says.
These efforts were sparked by elements of the Conservative party’s election platform and by actions and statements by Chiu “that were leveraged to bolster claims that both the platform and Chiu were anti-China and were encouraging anti-Chinese discrimination and racism.”
These messages were amplified through repetition in social media, chat groups and posts, as well as in Chinese in online, print and radio media throughout the Vancouver area.
Upon examination, the messages “were found to not be in contravention” of the Canada Elections Act, says the review, citing the Supreme Court of Canada’s position that the concept of uninhibited speech permeates all truly democratic societies and institutions.
The review says the effectiveness of the anti-Conservative, anti-Chiu campaigns was enhanced by circumstances “unique to the Chinese diaspora and the assertive nature of Chinese government interests.”
It notes the election was prefaced by statements from China’s ambassador to Canada and the Vancouver consul general as well as articles published or broadcast in Beijing-controlled Chinese Canadian media entities.
“According to Chinese Canadian interview subjects, this invoked a widespread fear amongst electors, described as a fear of retributive measures from Chinese authorities should a (Conservative) government be elected.”
This included the possibility that Chinese authorities could interfere with travel to and from China, as well as measures being taken against family members or business interests in China, the review says.
“Several Chinese Canadian interview subjects were of the view that Chinese authorities could exercise such retributive measures, and that this fear was most acute with Chinese Canadian electors from mainland China. One said ‘everybody understands’ the need to only say nice things about China.”
However, no interview subject was willing to name electors who were directly affected by the anti-Tory campaign, nor community leaders who claimed to speak on a voter’s behalf.
Several weeks of public inquiry hearings will focus on the capacity of federal agencies to detect, deter and counter foreign meddling.
In other testimony Tuesday, Conservative MP Garnett Genuis told the inquiry that parliamentarians who were targeted by Chinese hackers could have taken immediate protective steps if they had been informed sooner.
It emerged earlier this year that in 2021 some MPs and senators faced cyberattacks from the hackers because of their involvement with the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which pushes for accountability from Beijing.
In 2022, U.S. authorities apparently informed the Canadian government of the attacks, and it in turn advised parliamentary IT officials — but not individual MPs.
Genuis, a Canadian co-chair of the inter-parliamentary alliance, told the inquiry Tuesday that it remains mysterious to him why he wasn’t informed about the attacks sooner.
Liberal MP John McKay, also a Canadian co-chair of the alliance, said there should be a clear protocol for advising parliamentarians of cyberthreats.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
WINNIPEG – The federal New Democrats have kept a longtime stronghold in the Elmwood-Transcona riding in Winnipeg.
The NDP’s Leila Dance won a close battle over Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds, and says the community has spoken in favour of priorities such as health care and the cost of living.
Elmwood-Transcona has elected a New Democrat in every election except one since the riding was formed in 1988.
The seat became open after three-term member of Parliament Daniel Blaikie resigned in March to take a job with the Manitoba government.
A political analyst the NDP is likely relieved to have kept the seat in what has been one of their strongest urban areas.
Christopher Adams, an adjunct professor of political studies at the University of Manitoba, says NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh worked hard to keep the seat in a tight race.
“He made a number of visits to Winnipeg, so if they had lost this riding it would have been disastrous for the NDP,” Adams said.
The strong Conservative showing should put wind in that party’s sails, Adams added, as their percentage of the popular vote in Elmwood-Transcona jumped sharply from the 2021 election.
“Even though the Conservatives lost this (byelection), they should walk away from it feeling pretty good.”
Dance told reporters Monday night she wants to focus on issues such as the cost of living while working in Ottawa.
“We used to be able to buy a cart of groceries for a hundred dollars and now it’s two small bags. That is something that will affect everyone in this riding,” Dance said.
Liberal candidate Ian MacIntyre placed a distant third,
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau say the Liberals have “all sorts of reflections” to make after losing a second stronghold in a byelection in Montreal Monday night.
His comments come as the Liberal cabinet gathers for its first regularly scheduled meeting of the fall sitting of Parliament, which began Monday.
Trudeau’s Liberals were hopeful they could retain the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, but those hopes were dashed after the Bloc Québécois won it in an extremely tight three-way race with the NDP.
Louis-Philippe Sauvé, an administrator at the Institute for Research in Contemporary Economics, beat Liberal candidate Laura Palestini by less than 250 votes. The NDP finished about 600 votes back of the winner.
It is the second time in three months that Trudeau’s party lost a stronghold in a byelection. In June, the Conservatives defeated the Liberals narrowly in Toronto-St. Paul’s.
The Liberals won every seat in Toronto and almost every seat on the Island of Montreal in the last election, and losing a seat in both places has laid bare just how low the party has fallen in the polls.
“Obviously, it would have been nicer to be able to win and hold (the Montreal riding), but there’s more work to do and we’re going to stay focused on doing it,” Trudeau told reporters ahead of this morning’s cabinet meeting.
When asked what went wrong for his party, Trudeau responded “I think there’s all sorts of reflections to take on that.”
In French, he would not say if this result puts his leadership in question, instead saying his team has lots of work to do.
Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet will hold a press conference this morning, but has already said the results are significant for his party.
“The victory is historic and all of Quebec will speak with a stronger voice in Ottawa,” Blanchet wrote on X, shortly after the winner was declared.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and his party had hoped to ride to a win in Montreal on the popularity of their candidate, city councillor Craig Sauvé, and use it to further their goal of replacing the Liberals as the chief alternative to the Conservatives.
The NDP did hold on to a seat in Winnipeg in a tight race with the Conservatives, but the results in Elmwood-Transcona Monday were far tighter than in the last several elections. NDP candidate Leila Dance defeated Conservative Colin Reynolds by about 1,200 votes.
Singh called it a “big victory.”
“Our movement is growing — and we’re going to keep working for Canadians and building that movement to stop Conservative cuts before they start,” he said on social media.
“Big corporations have had their governments. It’s the people’s time.”
New Democrats recently pulled out of their political pact with the government in a bid to distance themselves from the Liberals, making the prospects of a snap election far more likely.
Trudeau attempted to calm his caucus at their fall retreat in Nanaimo, B.C, last week, and brought former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney on as an economic adviser in a bid to shore up some credibility with voters.
The latest byelection loss will put more pressure on him as leader, with many polls suggesting voter anger is more directed at Trudeau himself than at Liberal policies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
