I have been pouring over Mr. Zhang’s resume which tracks his ascent from general worker in a fertilizer plant in Dongping, Shandong to Secretary of the CPC (Central Party Committee) Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee. For those unaware of his rise to the top in the TAR, have a look at his CV. Since his humble beginnings as a general worker in the Dongping [Shandong] Fertilizer Plant at the age of twenty (he joined the Party two years later in 1973), he has managed to hold a wide range of positions with an accompanying laundry list of titles that often include the words, deputy, vice and/or secretary. He made his move west to Gansu province in August, 1998, and from there he has risen through the ranks in Gansu, Xinjiang and finally to TAR, where he moved in 2005. He did his post-graduate work in agricultural economics management in Xinjiang Shihezi University, finishing up at the age of fifty. Kudos to Mr. Zhang who is living proof that lifelong learning is a noble goal.
But what I haven’t yet found is any specific religious training, any special Buddhist education that would qualify his remark: “The Communist Party is like the parent to the Tibetan people, and it is always considerate about what the children need. The Central Party Committee is the real Buddha for Tibetans.”
Mr Zhang’s CV needs to be updated to reflect his Buddhist education. Or perhaps he’s just being modest. If so, I must say that modesty in leaders is a quality far too often missing these days. But now that he’s let that bit of higher wisdom out of the bag, perhaps he can tell us where he received his religious instruction. From general worker in a fertilizer plant to the possibility of being a Living Buddha!? This deserves a book. No, more than a book. Somewhere in the sprawling west is a lone wisdom tree patiently awaiting a ticket booth.
1 response so far ↓
1 Bill // Mar 21, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Chinese usually tell children they all came out of a rock, not a tree.
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