Black and White Cat

Yes, it’s time to say goodbye at last to free blogging. Black and White Cat has now moved to www.blackandwhitecat.org which, for now at least, does not require a proxy to access from China.

Hell hath no fury like 11 angry mistresses. Stories didn’t get much better than this. Subordinates having to send their wives to a corrupt party secretary and mayor if they wanted to get ahead. He’s finally brought down by his own treachery after allowing one of the husbands to be executed to protect himself. The story was everywhere on the Internet, and it traveled round the world’s media. Google "Pang Jiayu" (the man in the picture above) and take your pick.

Unfortunately it wasn’t necessarily true.

There is another version of events that didn’t get quite so much attention when it was printed in early July by the Procuratorial Daily and retold elsewhere. It described the long struggle of a man using the pseudonym Wei Jianjun. It’s basically the same story I’ve translated below from last Thursday’s Southern Weekly, except that "Wei Jianjun" is identified as Cao Changzheng. As far as I can tell, this story hasn’t been told in English.

There are still some mistresses - at least two or three, says Cao. Who knows? Maybe there were even 11 of them. However, in this story, no matter how many there were of them, they were not the ones who caused Pang Jiayu’s downfall.

But who am I to say what really happened. I wasn’t there and I don’t know. Anyway, even if both stories are true, there’s more that we haven’t heard.

Another thing I don’t know is which faction(s) of the party gained and which faction(s) lost in this case that was finally dealt with in the long build-up to the 17th Party Congress.

 

Told for the first time - The real identity of the “Deep Throat” in the Pang Jiayu case and an official’s ten-year grudge

Southern Weekly  Wang Qian, September 20, 2007

In late August, an article called "11 mistresses accuse former CPPCC Shaanxi Vice-Chairman Pang Jiayu" spread throughout the internet and the press. But a Southern Weekly reporter investigated and discovered the real informant. It was Cao Changzheng, a cadre in the Baoji City Justice Bureau. A member of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection group that investigated Pang Jiayu confirmed to Southern Weekly, "It was mostly Cao Changzheng, along with several other cadres using their real names whose report brought in the CCDI investigation."

"11 mistresses accused Pang Jiayu? If these mistresses just revealed themselves, that would be enough to get rid of him," Baoji Justice Bureau assistant investigator Cao Changzheng dismisses certain media reports with a laugh.

It was this middle-aged man who likes to call his adversary a "scoundrel” and a “villain”, who was really the key figure in pulling down Pang Jiayu - the former vice-chairman of the Shaanxi CPPC and former party secretary of Baoji. For nine long years, he persisted in investigating Pang Jiayu and reported him using his real name, eventually drawing the attention of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

A member of the CCDI group that investigated Pang Jiayu confirmed to Southern Weekly, "It was mostly Cao Changzheng, along with several other cadres using their real names whose report brought in the CCDI investigation."

In February 2007, Pang Jiayu was handed over to the Supreme People’s Procuratorate for investigation. "If it weren’t for certain obstructions that still exist now, the trial ought to be able to start very quickly," The CCDI staff member told this paper’s reporter.

Before Cao Changzheng made the report, he was repeatedly pushed down by Pang Jiayu. But he denies that his complaint stemmed from personal grievances.

He says: "I wanted him to know there are still people in the party who dare to struggle against evil."

INEXPLICABLY DISMISSED

"The conflict between Cao Changzheng and Pang Jiayu came out into the open years ago," says an old cadre in Baoji.

Cao Changzheng was born in a village. He had already worked for 10 years before he went to university. When the college entrance exams were restored in 1977, he took them five years in a row. In 1981, he finally managed to get into the philosophy department of the Northeast Institute of Politics and Law [now the Northeast University of Politics and Law].

After he graduated, Cao Changzheng worked in the Baoji Commission for Discipline Inspection. Talking about his experience, Cao Changzheng says, "At that time I could handle six cases in a year." He rummages around and digs out a pile of honor certificates. "Every year, I was an excellent worker and a model party member."

In 1995, Cao Changzheng was elected deputy head of the Baoji Judicial Bureau. According to his own account, "I was promoted to deputy department level cadre 10 years earlier than other people my age."

"I didn’t know him well at that time, but seeing he could rise through open election, I believed he was a capable person." Ten years on, an old Baoji cadre still has very strong impressions of him: "Young, upright, new perspective, a bit arrogant."

One day in April, 1998, Cao Changzheng’s fortunes changed. The deputy head of the Baoji party Organization Department wanted to talk to him: "In your assessment at the end of 1997, more than two thirds voted against you keeping your position, and decided to move you to assistant investigator at the Justice Bureau."

For someone as ambitious and proud as Cao, to have just spent two years as deputy bureau chief and now be demoted was a heavy blow.

Cao Changzheng wasn’t going to let his career chances slip away at this point. He tried to find another opportunity through "public selection."

At the beginning of June, 1998, he went to Xi’an, Nanning in Guangxi, Shaanxi province, Xuzhou in Jiangsu and took the exams for six or seven positions as a mid to high level cadre. Several times he got to the interview, but all of them ended in nothing.

Cao Changzheng thinks he performed well in all the interviews but time after time he failed, leaving him completely mystified.

In September, 2000, he passed the national lawyers examination. In November, he took part in the Baoji Party Organization Department’s public selection for deputy county-level leaders. As before, he easily got through to the interview.

"I didn’t think we’d find such talent in Baoji," recalls the deputy chairman of Shaanxi Writers’ Association and chairman of the Baoji Writers’ Association, Li Fengjie, who was a member of the review committee. He was extremely satisfied with Cao Changzheng’s eloquence and writing skills. But just as he was preparing to give Cao a high grade, a committee member next to him quietly stopped him, "This guy’s been blacklisted. We can’t employ him."

Later, when Cao Changzheng listened to Li Fengjie describe this, he suddenly remembered an interview for a department-level cadre’s position in Nanning, Guangxi province. After the interview, they rang him to say they were satisfied, but two days later another call came to regretfully turn him down. The reason was: "Baoji says we can’t use you…."

Cao Changzheng began to suspect that the person who’d blacklisted him was connected to the newly appointed party secretary of the city, Pang Jiayu.

THE RESULT OF A DECADE-OLD INCIDENT

Pang Jiayu became party secretary of Baoji in February, 1998. For the previous five years, he had been the city’s mayor.

As an unimportant cadre, Cao Changzheng’s work routine rarely brought him in contact with Pang Jiayu. But at conference in 1997, an argument erupted between the ambitious and proud Cao Changzheng and Pang Jiayu.

That was a Baoji Civil Defense meeting. The chairman of the meeting called on Cao Changzheng, the youngest person on the dais, to speak first. “He was bald, spoke loudly, a distinct character, and he spoke boldly," says an official who attended the meeting that year.

Cao Changzheng proposed that the civil defense facilities should be built with the future in mind. The current population of China was 1.2 billion, but the scale of construction should consider a population of 1.5 or 1.6 billion. "Absolute rubbish!" The mayor Pang Jiayu thumped the table, cutting off Cao Changzheng’s speech. "What 1.5 billion population? The population isn’t even 1.3 billion."

Cao Changzheng thought the other man had misheard him, and repeated his statement, only to be cut off again by the words "Absolute rubbish" from Pang Jiayu.

"They started arguing loudly in the middle of the meeting," recalls a Shaanxi civil defense official called Sun.

After the meeting, Cao Changzheng recalls that as he was passing Pang Jiayu, Pang opened his eyes and asked, "Didn’t you go to the transistor factory in ‘85, or ‘86?"

In the second half of 1985, when Cao Changzheng had just started work at the Baoji Commission for Discipline Inspection, an engineer at the the Baoji Qinling Transistor Factory made a signed report that the factory leader was trading gold. He handled the case.

"When I was dealing with the case, I discovered that the leader did indeed have problems, and I supported the informant’s complaint. But in the end, because certain leader intervened, the case wasn’t registered."

At that time, Cao Changzheng had just started working in Baoji and didn’t know that Pang Jiayu had been the deputy head of this factory for four years. Just over a year earlier, he had moved on to become the manager of the Baoji Electronic Instruments Industrial Company. Moreover, Pang Jiayu’s wife, Fan Yuzhi, was still a technician at this factory.

Cao Changzheng hadn’t thought that Pang Jiayu would still remember this incident more than ten years later. He answered, “Oh,” and carried on past Pang. He’d now discovered, "Pang Jiayu was a man who bore grudges."

"Pang Jiayu had a bad habit of judging things on first impressions. He always believed the first thing he heard someone say without understanding it," says a retired cadre who worked in the government for 30 years.

SECRETARY PANG SAYS WE CAN’T USE YOU

When Cao Changzheng realized that the obstruction probably originated from Pang Jiayu, he tried getting several old leaders to go and talk to Pang to "Let him know what kind of person I am."

But the answer that came back made Cao Changzheng despair. An old leader told him: Secretary Pang says we can’t use you.

At that time, there were rumors circulating among a small circle of people about Pang Jiayu having “problems.”

In 1992, when Pang Jiayu was director of the Baoji State Bonds Committee, the Baoji Financial Securities Company over-issued 300 million bonds. After the case broke in 1998, the manager of the company, Xu Baosheng, was sentenced to death.

Pang Jiayu became the general director of the Fengjiashan water pipeline project. Shortly after it was completed in 1998, the pipe burst three times. This pipe was the main conduit for Baoji’s water supplies and each time it burst, the water to the whole city was cut off. Many people suspected there were serious problems with the quality of the pipe.

Around 2000, Pang Jiayu sent his two daughters to study abroad. Cadres commented: "How can he manage that on his salary?"

"He was also supporting mistresses. Everyone knew the names of two or three," says Cao Jiayu, and that these rumors all came from people close to Pang Jiayu.

In May 2000, Cao Changzheng went to see Pang Jiayu, carrying the party constitution and all kinds of internal party documents. He suggested that votes in the 1997 year-end appraisal had been false and requested a reexamination of his dismissal. Pang Jiayu was noncommittal.

At the end of the year, Cao Changzheng burst into Pang Jiayu’s office again. “Why have you put all those bad things about me in my file! Have you no conscience!” According to Cao Changzheng, Pang answered arrogantly, “There are so many leaders and cadres like you coming to see me. Are you ever going to give me time to work?”

A SIGNED COMPLAINT

In August, 2001, Cao Changzheng sent a letter reporting the matter to a number of national leaders and central government ministries and commissions. He also sent one to a well known law professor at Tsinghua University to give directly to a certain member of the Politburo Standing Committee.

"I was suddenly dismissed and the rumors were so bad I couldn’t raise my head. Some said I was shielding my wife who was in the narcotics trade. Others said I’d been caught with prostitutes," says Cao Changzheng. "Walking down the street, if I saw an old leader I didn’t dare speak. I was afraid that if I said a single thing in the wrong way, it would get back to Pang Jiayu and I’d suffer more revenge."

"As this continued, I nearly went mad. I had to stand up and fight him." Cao Changzheng told this reporter the reason he did this was: "At least to let people in the community know I’d done nothing wrong."

Cao Changzheng collected a large amount of evidence of Pang Jiayu’s suspected bribe taking and dereliction of duty. At the end of each letter of complaint he attached a copy of his identity card, his work unit and a contact telephone number.

"It’s very hard to pull down a provincial deputy department level official by reporting him." From his experience working in the Commission for Discipline Inspection, he believed that only a report using his real name would work. If he did it anonymously, his report would be rejected immediately.

He didn’t know if it was the use of his real name, or the particular channel used to pass on his report, but in 2002 the Shaanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection sent a working group to Baoji. However, three months later the working group left. Pang Jiayu not only escaped unscathed, the news came that he was being promoted to a provincial position.

OPEN CONFRONTATION

While he was waiting for the results of his complaint, Cao Changzheng’s conflict with Pang Jiayu gradually became more open and fierce.

In the second half of 2001, at about 7.30 in the morning when people were arriving for work, Pang Jiayu had just entered the municipal party compound when Cao Changzheng rushed up and stopped him, demanding to know: "How much money did you rake off Fengjiashan project?" "What organizational line did you employ to promote Fan Taimin?" (Fan was the former police chief of Baoji, convicted of corruption.)

Pang Jiayu replied: "You can report me if you want."

The office director, the secretary and other people arriving for work quickly formed a human wall between the two of them to let Pang Jiayu get away.

"It’s enough that I made him lose face," says Cao Changzheng.

At the end of the year, two old leaders went to see Cao. "They advised me that doing things like this was no good," says Cao Changzheng. "They wanted me to visit Secretary Pang’s home, say some nice things and my work problems would soon be resolved. They said, when you go to his house, don’t be stingy. In other words, I should take a gift and it shouldn’t be too small."

These suggestions convinced him that Pang Jiayu was corrupt. Cao Changzheng refused to follow the leaders’ suggestion. "Reporting Pang Jiayu had nothing to do with personal resentment. It was my duty as a party member."

In November, 2002, Cao Changzheng and Pang Jiayu had a showdown in Pang’s office. "In the 10 years you’ve been mayor and party secretary of Baoji, you’ve done a lot of bad things. You can’t treat four million people in Baoji like idiots. I’m 15 years younger than you. I’ll report you for the rest of your life."

Pang Jiayu was furious. He glared at Cao and said, "You don’t scare me."

By the beginning of 2003, before Pang Jiayu left Baoji for his promotion as vice-chairman of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the CPPCC, the two men had one last conversation. Cao Changzheng says this time Pang Jiayu’s attitude had softened.

"He told me, ‘I apologize on behalf of the municipal committee for any work problems you may have had… I’ve already spoken with so-and-so, and everything will sorted out for you straight away.’"

Then I’ll wait for a while," Cao Changzheng replied.

A PHONE CALL FROM THE CCDI

Cao Changzheng waited two years, and nothing changed with his work situation. In 2004, to avoid causing trouble for his wife and child, he arranged for a divorce.

In August, 2005, he sent another similar letter of complaint to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and relevant departments. This time, he didn’t fight alone. He found six former members of the Baoji Municipal Party Committee and government personnel to join him. At the back of the letter of complaint, the seven of them attached their real names.

I encouraged them to sign the complaint. They knew things and they too had objections to Pang Jiayu," says Cao.

This letter of complaint was basically the same as the previous one, but it was more succinct and contained more evidence. As well as sending the complaint to central departments, Cao also sent it to Xinhua and the People’s Daily. He believed that "If I sent a dozen or so letters, one of them should hit the mark."

Two months later, he received a mysterious phone call at work. The caller told him to find a quite place where they could talk. When he arrived at the secluded spot, the other person identified himself: he was from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

In March, 2006, he took an 8,000-character statement to Xi’an to meet with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

He arrived in Xi’an the day before and slept in a basement room. "The appointment was the next day at half past eight in the morning. Even if I left early, I wouldn’t have been able to make it on time if I traveled from Baoji the same day."

The next day, Cao arrived at the agreed place at 7.30. The other party consisted of four or five people. Cao Changzheng had only been speaking for five minutes, when one of the leaders slammed his fist on the desk, "This has definitely got to be investigated thoroughly." From there, the situation developed at a speed that Cao Changzheng had not expected. In March, 2006, a CCDI investigation groups arrived in Baoji, Lanzhou etc. In May, numerous people connected to Pang Jiayu’s case were seized. On September 15, Pang Jiayu was brought to justice.

Cao Chanzheng was overjoyed by the rapid capture of Pang Jiayu. But he is still unclear why the first complaint disappeared without trace, while the second had an immediate effect; and whether his complaint brought down Pang Jiayu, or there were some other hidden factors.

PANG JIAYU’S LEGACY

On September 11, 2007, turning on the tap in the Baoji government’s main building only produces a gurgling sound. Not a drop of water comes out.

"The pipe burst again yesterday. The building’s water has been cut off for now," Cao Changzheng apologizes.

A couple of weeks earlier, this pipeline left by Pang Jiayu burst for the seventh time leaving 80% of Baoji without water.

"Because things ended well, I don’t think these last nine years have been a tragedy for me," says Cao Changzheng. But for Baoji, this key industrial city of nearly four million people, even now, the mess Pang Jiayu left behind is causing trouble for everyone.

After reporting Pang Jiayu, Cao Chanzheng’s position still hasn’t changed. He’s still an assistant investigator at the city justice bureau. He continues to appeal against his original dismissal, but so far without result.

He is still bald, with a resonant voice and a cheerful nature. He often laughs heartily.

After he brought down Pang Jiayu, he became famous in Baoji. In the street, strangers often greet him warmly. But some people who know him quietly avoid him. His fiery nature scares some people away.

Not long after Pang Jiayu was caught, Cao Changzheng met one of Pang’s old subordinates in the government building. Cao said, "The CCDI have put Pang Jiayu under double regulations." The other person replied, "Screw the CCDI!" [the speaker is actually comparing the CCDI’s worth to a testacle] Cao Chanzheng grabbed hold of the man’s shirt collar and shouted, "You’re cursing the Communist Pary! Come with me to the Commission for Discipline Inspection!" The two men struggled and the man’s collar came off in Cao Changzheng’s hand. He ran off without saying anything.

I was being grilled the other day by one of my superiors at work about certain aspects of credibility in our international programming. The term PR made an appearance in our conversation.

PR - the first two letters of propaganda.

I suppose my ultimate employer in China is the 宣传部 (xuanchanbu). Xuanchuanbu is no longer translated as “Propaganda Department” - that’s considered bad PR. It’s the Publicity Department now. No need to change the initials.

Taking a break from what I’m supposed to be doing - translating the tale of a corrupt and debauched official finally laid low through the determination of a heroic investigator - I wander off through the Internet and follow a link to this article about Karen Hughes which scandalously suggests that she and her employer, that great statesman and orator President Bush, have made themselves and America about as popular as Osama bin Laden. Outrageous as that might sound, it does at least send me off to read Karen Hughes’ latest piece of "Public Diplomacy." For some reason, I feel a natural affinity to someone whose occupation begins with those two letters.

However, much as I appreciate Ms. Hughes’ words of wisdom, I must take issue with one detail: her suggestion that apple pie might even possibly be American. As far as I am aware, the Christmas-haters sailed on the Mayflower from Plymouth to Plymouth in 1620. If apple pie is American, then how do we explain this recipe published in 1545 in the concisely named "A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye, declarynge what maner of meates be beste in season, for al times in the yere, and how they ought to be dressed, and serued at the table, bothe for fleshe dayes, and fyshe dayes"?

To make pyes of grene apples - Take your apples and pare them cleane and core them as ye wyll a Quince, then make youre coffyn after this maner, take a lyttle fayre water and half a dyche of butter and a little Saffron, and sette all this upon a chafyngdyshe tyll it be hoate then temper your flower with this sayd licuor, and the whyte of two egges and also make your coffyn and ceason your apples with Sinemone, Gynger and Suger ynoughe. Then putte them into your coffin and laye halfe a dyshe of butter above them and so close your coffin, and so bake them.

Or this even earlier 14th century recipe:

For To Make Tartys in Applis

Tak gode Applys and gode Spryeis and Figys and reyfons and Perys and wan they are wel ybrayed colourd wyth Safron wel and do yt in a cofyn and do yt forth to bake well.

But that’s just nitpicking. The rest of the article is wonderful PD.