Sharpening the Blade Against the Red Wall: From Hong Kong to Handong

Jingzhou, Jingxin Garden.

Inside the temporary command post, converted from the ground floor of a small, detached building, the lights shone all night. Zhou Jin sat at a long table, with not interrogation transcripts or economic data spread out in front of her, but stacks of documents sent by the Handong Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government—complete meeting minutes of three Standing Committee meetings, a preliminary analysis report on the province's economic performance in the first quarter of this year, and a large number of investigation materials and decision-making process summaries involving the "freezing of cadres" and the exceptional promotion of Yi Xuexi and others.

This was offered by Sha Ruijin to show his "full cooperation with the inspection work." The gesture was very convincing, but Zhou Jin knew that he needed to use his professional eye to discern how much of it was genuine and how much had been edited and embellished.

His gaze first fell on the final report on Yi Xuexi's "Cadre Assessment and Recommendations for Exceptional Promotion".

The report quoted Sha Ruijin's original words at the Standing Committee meeting, each word clear and distinct, as if one could hear the deliberately crafted fervor in the meeting room at that time:

"Therefore, I formally propose: First, that Comrade Yi Xuexi, Secretary of the Party Working Committee of Luzhou Economic Development Zone, be listed as the top of the 'Top Ten Outstanding County and District Cadres of Handong Province' this year, and that his deeds be solemnly commended and widely publicized!"

"Secondly," his voice grew louder, "given Comrade Yi Xuexi's outstanding work ability, rich practical experience, and the sense of responsibility he demonstrated in handling complex issues (such as the Crescent Lake remediation), I recommend that Comrade Yi Xuexi be promoted exceptionally to the position of Deputy Secretary of the CPC Luzhou Municipal Committee and nominated as a candidate for Mayor of the Luzhou Municipal People's Government!"

Zhou Jin's brows furrowed deeply. His fingertips tapped lightly on the two paragraphs, making a soft, clear sound that was particularly distinct in the silent command post.

"This is utterly reckless!" Zhou Jin muttered to himself, his tone icy, a mixture of shock and anger.

"Based on these? Based on his lack of remorse after receiving a disciplinary action in Jinshan County (as described in the report), his more than ten years in Daokou County, and his role in the remediation of Crescent Lake in the Lüzhou Development Zone—does he dare to promote a cadre who has served in a division-level position for twenty years and has no experience in leading the overall situation to the key position of mayor of Lüzhou City?! What tangible experience does Yi Xuexi have in leading the overall work of a prefecture-level city? Does he have mature thinking and successful cases in managing complex economic situations? Besides the vague evaluations of 'hard work' and 'daring to confront difficulties,' where is the substantial, verifiable, and hard-core support that proves his ability to lead a major economic city?!"

What kind of place is Lüzhou? It accounts for one-fifth of the economy of Handong Province! It is a crucial town on the economic map of Handong! How can such a major economic city be handed over to an "old workhorse" who has been confined to grassroots and development zone affairs for twenty years, has never received training at the deputy ministerial level, let alone presided over the overall work of a prefecture-level city?

"Sha Ruijin, you're treating Handong's economy like a joke! You're using the future of millions of people in Luzhou to serve your personal political ambitions!" Zhou Jin's eyes were sharp as knives. This wasn't just a matter of poor judgment; it was a serious case of irresponsible adventurism and opportunism! It was a typical example of reckless action that disregarded the realities of local development in order to establish personal authority and break the so-called "old order"!

Even more unsettling things were yet to come. Zhou Jin began to peruse two other documents—the complete records of those three Standing Committee meetings.

He read very carefully, not quickly, but his gaze was like a scanner, filtering every word and capturing the meaning behind each exchange. After reading the first document (the first Standing Committee meeting), his expression darkened slightly; after reading the second document (the second Standing Committee meeting, focusing on Crescent Lake Food City and the old stories of Lüzhou), his eyes became even more profound; after reading the third document (the third Standing Committee meeting, focusing on Yi Xuexi's promotion, the freeze on cadre appointments, and Qi Tongwei's treatment), Zhou Jin slowly closed the document, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

"Terrible..." he murmured, then opened his eyes. There was no warmth left in his eyes, only a chilling light that pierced through appearances.

"Three provincial party committee standing committee meetings in total! Looking through the records, apart from the one involving Yi Xuexi's promotion (Yi Xuexi's rectification of Crescent Lake), the core of almost all the discussions—more than 90%, even nearly 100%—revolved around 'cadre issues'—cadre freezes, cadre reviews, cadre promotions, cadre struggles, and cadre evaluations!"

"After decades of reform and opening up, by 2015, with the international wave of science and technology surging forward, did Handong no longer need to keep up with the times? Did it no longer need to discuss economic restructuring? Did it no longer need to study how to stabilize growth, promote reform, adjust structure, benefit people's livelihood, and prevent risks under the new normal?" Zhou Jin's fingers unconsciously traced patterns on the table, as if sketching a worrying picture.

"Look at this record. Governor Liu is on sick leave, and the provincial government was practically silent at the meeting! Regardless of whether the agenda involved the provincial government's work or not, so many cadres in directly affiliated departments have been frozen out for a long time. Does the provincial government not care at all about the future and status of these more than one hundred key cadres? Or... does Sha Ruijin simply not want the provincial government to have a voice?!"

Zhou Jin recalled what she had witnessed during her incognito visit a few days prior: factories operating at half capacity, approvals delayed, and officials adopting a "no mistakes, no merit" mentality. Was this merely due to external economic pressure? More likely, it stemmed from Sha Ruijin's governing philosophy of "prioritizing cadre issues above all else," leading to systemic administrative delays and public instability!

The only time Gao Yuliang mentioned the economy and people's livelihood at a Standing Committee meeting was at the third meeting, when he worriedly pointed out the impact of the more than two-month freeze on cadre appointments on administrative operations and warned that the first quarter's economic data might decline. And what was Sha Ruijin's response?

Zhou Jin flipped back to the corresponding page in the record. Sha Ruijin offered no substantive response to Gao Yuliang's warning about a potential economic downturn! There was no discussion of countermeasures! No deployment of economic work! Instead, he immediately steered the conversation back to Qi Tongwei's promotion, continuing to immerse himself in the power game of cadre appointments!

"Absurd! Pathetic! Dangerous!" Zhou Jin felt an indescribable sense of disappointment and anger welling up in his chest. As a cadre who had previously governed local areas and knew that development was the top priority, he could not tolerate this topsy-turvy approach to governance.

"A provincial party secretary, after taking office, only sees and cares about 'people' and not 'things'; he only thinks about using 'personnel replacement' to establish authority and break the deadlock, but forgets that developing the economy, improving people's livelihoods, and promoting social progress are the fundamental principles for our party to govern and revitalize the country! They are the ultimate yardstick for testing the ability and achievements of a leadership team and its leaders!"

Zhou Jin stood up and walked to the map of Handong Province hanging on the wall. His gaze swept over Jingzhou, Luzhou, Lincheng... these cities that were once full of vitality, but are now sluggish due to personnel turmoil.

"Sha Ruijin, you've turned Handong into your personal training ground, and your cadre team into pawns for practicing your power games. You're immersed in the power game of breaking 'unspoken rules,' promoting 'your own people,' and suppressing 'dissidents,' forgetting that the development of a province cannot be driven by personnel struggles! It requires concrete policies, clear and accurate economic judgment, scientific and effective governance capabilities, and a pragmatic spirit of unity from top to bottom!"

"Your tendency to prioritize personnel adjustments over economic development and formalities over actual results has already been clearly pointed out in the authorization document for the inspection! The Central Committee sees this very clearly! Yet you remain self-righteous and even intensify your actions!"

Zhou Jin sat back down at the table, picked up his pen, and quickly scribbled a few lines in his notebook. This wasn't a draft of the inspection report, but rather his preliminary analysis of Sha Ruijin's governing philosophy and potential risks, based on all the information available at the moment:

Analysis of the characteristics of Sha Ruijin's early rule in Handong:

1. Core logic misplaced: placing cadre personnel issues (establishing authority, breaking the deadlock) above the overall economic and social development, putting the cart before the horse.

2. Risky decision-making model: In order to break the old pattern and establish personal authority, some officials are willing to appoint cadres who have not been fully tested and lack overall experience in key positions (such as Mayor Lüzhou), which poses a great political risk and may seriously affect local stability and development.

3. Neglecting economic governance: The minutes of the three Standing Committee meetings show that there was a lack of sufficient attention and effective measures to address potential economic risks (economic downturn caused by inefficient administration), revealing a serious deviation from the focus of governance.

4. Current Behavioral Pattern Analysis: Because the EasyLearning Project has fallen into an extremely passive position, it may exhibit a reckless tendency to "go all in" or even "create new problems to offset old mistakes." This behavioral pattern would be a fatal blow to the already unstable situation in Handong.

After writing this, Zhou Jin put down his pen, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes again. He needed time to process it, to consider how this information was being combined with the ongoing, secret investigations into Qi Tongwei by various teams (which were also a key focus of the inspection).

Sha Ruijin's attitude towards Qi Tongwei—a "soft veto" that involved "comprehensive consideration," "integration with team building," and "no rigid timetable"—was seen by Gao Yuliang and Li Dakang as "indefinite postponement" and "suppressing dissent." However, Zhou Jin believes this precisely exposes another problem with Sha Ruijin—his indecisiveness and opportunism in the use of cadres.

They dared not immediately take down Qi Tongwei, who might be problematic (due to a lack of solid evidence and an unwillingness to immediately sever ties with Gao Yuliang), nor were they willing to offer explicit support (due to a lack of trust and a desire to maintain their image of "strict censorship"). This hesitation and calculation only allowed the problems to accumulate deeper, making relevant officials (such as Qi Tongwei) more anxious and prone to taking risks.

"In this game of Handong, Sha Ruijin is not only playing terribly, but he is also likely pushing the entire game into an unmanageable abyss..." Zhou Jin had already made a basic judgment in his mind. Sha Ruijin's governing philosophy is seriously flawed, and his current frenzied state caused by the Yi Xuexi case is likely to push this flaw to the extreme, ultimately igniting Handong.