Wang Yang : reformist credentials tested by Chinese systeminShare 0 Share thisEmailPrintRelated NewsChina closes in on Bo Xilai after jailing ex - police chiefMon , Sep 24 2012 UPDATE 4 - China closes in on Bo Xilai after jailing ex - police chiefMon , Sep 24 2012 Chinese democracy experiment marked by protest a year onFri , Sep 21 2012 China ' s Xi says Japan ' s purchase of disputed isles a farceWed , Sep 19 2012 China implicates Bo Xilai in criminal caseWed , Sep 19 2012 Analysis & OpinionMurders in the forest Related TopicsWorld » China » Wang Yang , Party Secretary of the Guangdong Province , claps during the opening ceremony of the Chinese People ' s Political Consultative Conference ( CPPCC ) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing March 3 , 2012 . Credit : Reuters / Jason LeeBy Sui - Lee Wee and James PomfretGUANGZHOU , China | Mon Sep 24 , 2012 5 : 31 pm EDT GUANGZHOU , China ( Reuters ) - Wang Yang , Communist Party chief of China ' s southern Guangdong province and seen by many in the West as a beacon of political reform , encouraged journalists earlier this year to expose the problem of pirated goods - part of his " Three Strikes " campaign against those hawking fake products . But several reporters who heeded his call were sacked . Others had their stories killed . The pattern , a familiar one in Guangdong , is a reminder of the limits of reform in China . A close look at Wang ' s record - he ' s a serious contender for promotion to the all - powerful Politburo Standing Committee - illustrates the dilemma facing reformist leaders inside China ' s political system . Wang , 57 , began with a genuine zeal for reform in China ' s richest and most liberal province . Concerned that society had not kept up with three decades of blistering economic change , he lobbied for social and political reform , but this has made him vulnerable to a conservative backlash , and pushed him back to a more familiar method of control and punishment . " People say he ' ll be the new Wen Jiabao in the new Party leadership , " said Jianwei Wang , professor of political science at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point , referencing the current premier , whose calls for substantive political reforms have largely been ignored . "( But ) you have to remember Wang is a Chinese Communist Party official . He ' s not a Western liberal . " Wang earned praise for his deft handling of a potentially violent land dispute in the coastal village of Wukan last year , but interviews with current and former journalists and labor rights activists in Guangdong show many feel he has presided over a harsh crackdown on parts of society the Communist Party typically sees as a direct challenge to its rule . Ultimately , observers say Wang ' s experience underscores the difficulties of any Mikhail Gorbachev - like figure breaking free of the confines of China ' s rigid political structure . " In this country and in this regime , there are no real reformers , " a former editor of the Southern Metropolitan Daily newspaper said . " Everything is just for show . " HUMBLE ROOTSBorn into a poor rural family in eastern Anhui province , Wang dropped out of high school to help support his family after his father died , going to work in a food factory aged 17 ; experiences likely to have shaped his desire for more socially inclusive policies , including a push to engender a " Happy Guangdong " model of development to improve peoples ' lives . As with Wen , Wang ' s humble upbringing contrasts with the so - called " princelings " or privileged offspring of former Chinese Communist leaders or military top brass , including ousted party heavyweight Bo Xilai and leader - in - waiting Xi Jinping . " That ' s very important , " said Cheng Li , an expert on Chinese politics at the Brookings Institution think - tank in Washington . " This is the difference between Bill Clinton and George W . Bush , in terms of background . " In 1979 , Wang studied political economy at the Central Party School , according to a biography of him by Hong Kong ' s Mirror Books published in 2009 . From there , his rise was swift . In 1982 , he was named propaganda chief of the Communist Youth League , President Hu Jintao ' s power base , in Anhui . When Wen became premier , he appointed Wang as deputy secretary general of the State Council , China ' s cabinet . In 2005 , Wang was appointed party chief of the southwestern municipality of Chongqing , and , two years later , of Guangdong , China ' s most populous province with a population of 104 million . During his term , Wang held regular sessions with a group of scholars to discuss reform , said Xiao Bin , a professor of government at Guangzhou ' s Sun Yat - sen University , who attended two sessions . Wang made Guangdong cadres set aside a day just to read books such as Thomas Friedman ' s take on globalization , " The World Is Flat ", Xiao said . CHANGING THE BIRDSPolitically , Wang - whose graying hair and straight - talking manner stand him apart from the many apparatchiks who dye their hair black to appear young - succeeded in reducing the number of government departments in some areas , but stumbled in his push for the direct election of officials in Shenzhen and a more independent judiciary . Xiao said Beijing was not enthusiastic about the political reforms . " Up to now , Wang Yang hasn ' t been able to achieve anything , " said Hao Wenyuan , a former Guangdong official . " Nobody can break through the entrenched interests . " While Guangdong ' s economy has doubled under Wang - gross domestic product of 5 . 3 trillion yuan ( $ 840 billion ) matches that of Indonesia - not all his economic reforms have been successful . The province ' s growth slowed to 7 . 4 percent in January - June , one of its weakest periods in a decade . Known in Chinese as " cleaning the birdcage to change the birds ", Wang sought to replace Guangdong ' s low - end factories with high - tech industries . But , amid a spawning of projects and policies to accommodate his vision in factory towns across the Pearl River Delta , places like the Changping Innovation and Technology Center in the gritty manufacturing hub of Dongguan remain half empty nearly four years after opening . " I think the direction was good but instead of driving all those labor intensive factories out in a short period , they should have made some longer - term planning by giving better incentives to high - technology people , " said a foreign businessman running a factory in Changping . Wang ' s strength is his ability to appear open to the people of Guangdong , which absorbs its liberal ethos from neighboring Hong Kong , the freewheeling former British colony , said rights activist Guo Feixiong , who was jailed for five years in 2007 on charges of illegal business activities . " The fact he didn ' t arrest anyone involved in Wukan and allowed elections demonstrate that he ' s enlightened , " said Guo . " I suspect people like Wang Yang are reformers in the sense that they believe the system as it stands now is not sustainable and needs urgent change , but . .. those changes come in terms of making sure the economic system reduces inequality and provides more Chinese a chance to take a piece of the economic pie , " said Rana Mitter , a Chinese politics professor at Oxford University . MEDIA , LABOUR CRACKDOWNTwo current and former journalists at the Nanfang Group , which owns some of China ' s boldest publications , said they received " clear instructions " and " requirements " that reporters should not write articles that would " hinder Wang Yang ' s prospects ". These include stories on Guangdong ' s social ills such as explosions , piracy and " mass incidents " - a euphemism for street protests - according to the journalists , though they say none of these instructions were formally delivered by Wang himself . one recent story journalists were barred from writing was on a Guangzhou - based official who had abused a flight attendant , according to several people familiar with the matter . " He ( Wang ) instituted some reforms , but . .. ( these ) are possibly just to meet his needs and are not for the good of everyone , " said a former Southern Metropolitan columnist . Three journalists from different publications say Wang did allow the Guangdong media to write critical reports - up to a point . "... but resistance was very large , " said one former Southern Weekly columnist . " After he announced that the Guangdong media can criticize Guangdong , it was less than a month before he took it back . The internal negative repercussions were too much . " Viewed warily by conservatives , Wang was made a scapegoat in a campaign by hardliners against the Nanfang Group , which had embarrassed some officials with critical stories on the 2008 Sichuan earthquake , the former columnist said . The hardliners attacked the publishing house , and Wang , calling them " traitors , anti - party and anti - China " on the Internet . DRAWING A LINEThis year ' s clampdown on labor groups has raised questions about how sincere Wang is on social reform . A line appears to have been drawn between tolerating workers ' specific demands and organized dissent by labor groups . Last year , Guangdong issued groundbreaking rules making it easier for NGOs to register with the civil affairs authorities without the backing of a government agency . Within a year , though , eight NGOs that fight for the rights of migrant workers in Shenzhen were forced out of their premises . As provincial chief , Wang bears responsibility for the crackdown , said Zhang Zhiru , director of the Shenzhen Spring Breeze Labour Disputes Service Centre . Chinese labour rights groups are often harassed by the government , which fears they could organize strikes and trigger social unrest . Interviews with six labour activists show that this time , the scale of the crackdown is unprecedented . In February , Zhang ' s landlord told him he was under pressure from the authorities to evict his group . ' How can you rent your place to someone who wants to go against the government ? ', the landlord was told , according to Zhang . Previous Guangdong party boss Zhang Dejiang had told Shenzhen leaders to encourage the development of labour rights groups , which discussed cooperation with the official union . All that stopped when Wang arrived . " It can be said that after Wang Yang came , the situation really deteriorated , " said Zhang , the labour activist . " In my mind , Wang Yang is neither a reformer nor is he a liberal . "($ 1 = 6 . 3093 Chinese yuan ) ( Additional reporting by Hui Li , Chris Buckley , Ben Blanchard and Michael Martina ; Editing by Ian Geoghegan )