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The Communist Youth League marks its 90th anniversary with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 4, 2012. The league was once the cradle for promising young cadres. Photo: Xinhua

Communist ‘aristocrats’: Party watchdog takes aim at ‘self-serving’ youth league cadres

Top government think tank comes under fire for not adequately toeing the Marxist ideological line

The Communist Youth League, once the cradle for promising young cadres and future political high-fliers, has been criticised by inspectors from the Communist Party’s top disciplinary watchdog for its self-serving attitude, with some cadres considering themselves “political aristocrats”.

The results of the two-month inspection into the league, among other party agencies, came after a graft probe into one of the league’s alumni, Ling Jihua, a one-time top aide to former president Hu Jintao. It also underscored the apparent low-key profiles of other once rising league stars.

In its latest round of inspections of 31 institutions, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection also criticised the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a top think tanks, for not sufficiently toeing the Marxist line, in what an analyst said was another sign of tightening in ideology.

The CCDI said in a statement late Thursday that the league’s central committee had not fully implemented the party’s decision to improve the work of mass organisations. The committee was also overly bureaucratic, and some officials regarded themselves as “political aristocrats”, according to the statement.

READ MORE: Telling tales: brother of disgraced Chinese presidential aide Ling Jihua defects to US and reveals state secrets, says report

The statement did not elaborate but Beijing-based historian and political commentator Zhang Lifan said “political aristocracy” referred to the belief among some officials that joining the league’s central committee, or becoming the part of tuanpai faction, automatically opened the door to a promising political career.

Hu and Premier Li Keqiang are among the retired and serving senior officials who have youth league backgrounds. Several other rising political stars were also promoted from the organisation.

Some of those youth league officials thought themselves to be chosen as future leaders
Political commentator Zhang Lifan

“Some of those youth league officials thought themselves to be chosen as future leaders,” Zhang said. “The CCDI’s findings show the top leadership is obviously not happy with their work.”

Many observers had said the tuanpai would be the cradle for the next generation of leaders, but that changed after Ling’s fall.

Analysts also said the criticism signalled that the top leadership wanted the league to tightly toe the party line ahead of a major power reshuffle at the 19th party congress next year, and that the youth league faction could lose large.

In a separate inspection report, the top graft-buster also said Marxism had become marginalised in some research areas at CASS. There had been “some faulty ideological trends” that must be corrected, the commission said.

READ MORE: Chinese journalists required to pass ideology exam as Communist Party tightens control

It also urged CASS to strengthen management of joint academic projects with overseas organisations, especially in the publication of journals, newspapers and websites, as well as to reinforce “political checks” on academic work.

Zhang said that while this was a sign of a tighter grip on ideological control, the top leadership obviously wanted both organisations to “closely toe the party line” and not veer in any direction.

“The top leadership does not like the spread of the liberal thinking, but they similarly cannot afford ‘left’ thinking to take centre stage. The CCDI’s criticisms are to tell them to stay absolutely unanimously behind party central,” he said.

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