By Bo Zhiyue
What to make of an unusual article in the People’s Daily.
Eleven days after Guo Boxiong, one of Jiang Zemin’s lieutenants in the People’s Liberation Army and former vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and Politburo member for a decade (2002-2012), was expelled from the Party for corruption and handed over to the military prosecutors for legal procedures, the People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article on August 10, 2015 on the issue of old men in politics.
In the article, titled “Look at the phenomenon of ‘out of sight, out of mind’ dialectically,” the author argued that those who have retired should not interfere with the work of those in power. Playing off the Chinese metaphor, the article said it should be considered normal for the “tea to get cold” as soon as the tea drinker leaves the tea house. In fact, many leading cadres have just done that. After their retirement, they no longer intervene in the business of their successors. However, some leaders refuse to accept the new normal and would like to “keep the tea hot” after their departure. In other words, they would like to retain “residual power” after their retirement.
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