About Reincarnation in the Communist Party

Zhang Yijiong, Ling Jihua (centre) and Sitar (behind)

Communist China is changing very fast.
Even hardcore Marxists of the Central Committee are today interested in the reincarnation system.
In 2012, Hua Jintao's favorite, Ling Jihua did not get the seat in the Politburo which was promised to him.
In an earlier posting, I wrote about his son's Ferrari-accident in which two Tibetan girls (and the boy) were killed. That was the end of Ling's dreams.
He nevertheless became vice-chairperson of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and minister of the United Front Work Department, in charge of 'Tibetan affairs'.
On July 25, 2014, when he visited the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing, he showed particular interest in a special exhibition "The Living Buddha Reincarnation System of Tibetan Buddhism" organized by the Center.
Can you believe that the Old Communist Party is organizing exhibition on the reincarnation system? Is is new China?
Mao must be turning in his grave (or mausoleum).
At the Tibetology Center, Mr. Ling gave the usual speech quoting the speeches of his bosses, President Xi Jinping and Yu Zhengsheng, the Chairman of CPPCC. He said that both have given "a series of important instructions on Tibet-related work, pointing out the direction of further development for Tibetan studies".
Ling was accompanied by Zhang Yijiong (Dharamsala's interlocutor in case of talks) and Sitar (a Tibetan) of the United Front Work Department, who recently visited Tibet (particularly the popular Ngari region).
Ling told the officials that he hoped that the China Tibetology Research Center could make "deep investigations and studies, research with great concentration, blaze new trails in a pioneering spirit ...to contribute wisdom and strength for the economic development and social stability of Tibet and Tibetan areas, as well as for the national reunification and ethnic unity."
Well, it is certainly good for today's China to learn about reincarnation.
The study of the reincarnation system might also be good for Mr. Ling.
His end seems to be coming fast.
The South China Morning Post reported last week: "Speculation grows that CPPCC vice-chairman Ling Jihua could be implicated in corruption inquiry as brother-in-law is held in custody."
The Hong Kong daily further believes: "The detention of a relative of Ling Jihua, a former senior aide to ex-president Hu Jintao, has led to speculation the authorities may be building a case against Ling himself."
Wang Jiankang, Ling's brother-in-law is a deputy mayor in Yuncheng in Shanxi province; he was recently been taken into custody.
According to the SMCP, Wang is the latest relative of Ling to be detained: "Last month, Ling's brother Ling Zhengce was taken into custody over allegations of corruption. He is a vice-chairman of the Shanxi CPPCC."
Another source says that Wang's wife, Ling's elder sister Ling Luxian, had also been detained.
Ling Jihua, Hu Jintao's former personal secretary, was once upon the time the rising star of the Party.
The SMCP asserts: "Ling Jihua comes from Shanxi and was said to be a founder of the 'Shanxi gang', officials who either worked their way up the ranks in the coal-rich province or traced their ancestry to there. Several senior officials with links to the province have been detained over allegations of corruption this year."
All this perhaps explains Mr. Ling's interest in 'reincarnation'.
His present political life is probably coming to a close.
It is time to think of 'next one'.