Du Changhao


 * ''This is a ; the is

Du Changhao (: ㄉㄨ ㄔㄤㄏㄠ; : Du Chánghào: born 22nd February 1945, aged 71) is a Manchurian retired politician and former who served as the Premier of Manchuria from 1990 to 2002. Du also served as the leader of the Popular Front for Democracy and Revolution from its founding in 1989 to 1995, the Minzhudang Chairman from 1990 to 2000 and as the Communist Party secretary for the city of from 1983 to 1989. He was also the founder of the New Progressive Party and its leader from 2008-13. Styled as the " " Du is widely recognised as having played a key role in the end of communism in Manchuria and subsequent democratisation.

Born in in 1945, Du joined the Communist Party of Manchuria in the 1970's where he quickly became aligned to the reformist faction of the party, becoming a close associate of rising star Tao Shiyou. In 1981 he was elected as a member of the Central Committee and in 1983 the Party Secretary for the Dalian region. As the Party Secretary for Dalian he oversaw some market reforms in the city, and soon became the most radical in his implementation of Tao's "New Communism". Following Tao's ousting in 1986 Du asserted himself as the leading voice for reform within the party, retaining his role in the Central Committee and party secretary in Dalian. At the outbreak of the Orchid Revolution in Dalian Du publicly voiced support for the protesters, becoming one of the leading figures calling for the implementation of democracy. He resigned from the Communist Party and formed the Popular Front for Democracy and Revolution, an umbrella group of dissidents who opposed the Manchu communist government. Following the announcement of multiparty elections the Popular Front was reformed as a electoral coalition that won the legislative elections. Du was the Popular Front's candidate for premier, with Du being elected Premier over Communist candidate Yuan Xiang.

Du governed Manchuria alongside a legislature that consisted of a coalition of parties across the political spectrum (such as his own Minzhudang, the Manzuxiehui, the Social Democratic Party and United People's Party) which pushed forward a moderate agenda known as the Auspicious Path to Progress that saw the economic deregulation, privatisation of state owned enterprises, the dismantlement of the secrete police and moves to create a welfare state. Du however clashed with several right wing politicians within the legislature, mainly over Du's oppositions to greater privatisations and deregulation into public and private sectors respectively. Du spearheaded policies that saw freedom of the press and protest fully adhered to in Manchuria. Du was re-elected in 1996 where he continued to implement a centrist political platform.

Following his time as Premier Du was elected into the Supreme National Assembly, where he retained an ambivalent relationship with the administration of the new Premier Jin Pai Nai. Following the collapse of the Minzhudang in 2007 and the subsequent 2008 elections he formed the New Progressive Party as well as work with various organisations such as. Du ran in the 2014 premieral elections as the Progressive Alliance for Manchuria's candidate where he came second. He subsequently resigned as the NPP's leader. He remains a voting member on the NPP's National Committee.

Du's tenure as Premier was controversial, due to his rocky relationship with the legislature, authoritarianism and accusations of corruption. Nevertheless, Du is widely recognised and praised for his role in ending the communist regime in Manchuria as well as having supported human rights in Manchuria.

Early life
Du Changhao was born in the city of the on the 22nd February 1945 into a  family. At the time Manchuria was split between the  regime, an effective  colony and the revolutnary Manchu Republic formed during the Manchu Revolution. His father had been a rich peasant, but had been killed by the Japanese for his connections to the and his farm subsequently given over to Japanese colonialists with Du's family being forced to work on an opium farm. Du had five siblings - two older sisters and later a younger brother and sister. As Harbin was in republican territory, Du was born under the revolutionary government rather then the Japanese Manzhouguo regime.

A few months after Du's birth the Communist Party of Manchuria came to power in Manchuria under the rule of Jin Guoxing, who embarked on a collectivisation campaign in Manchuria in 1948, which saw Du's family moved to a. Du's family suffered harsh conditions in the collective farm, with food shortages being common - it is known that his older sister Zehui suffered malnutrition within the collective farm in the 1950 Manchurian famine, although none of his family died. As part of the literacy campaigns launched by the government Du was sent to a primary school within the farming collective in 1949. He left the collective in 1955 to attend vocational school in Harbin's urban area, which he graduated from in 1963. At the age of 12 he joined the Young Communist League, the official youth wing of the CPM. Following that he was able to attend the, where he studied where he specialised in studying.

In May 1966 he became engaged to Ma Xiaofen, who was also of a peasant background and worked as a maid within the Harbin Institute of Technology. They were married two months later. Du graduated around the same time with a degree in chemical engineering - his degree paper was titled "On the effects of Sarin and Chlorine in modern warfare". After graduating he then took part in his mandatory military service (known as "Patriotic Civil Service") where he spent 18 months serving in the army, where it is alleged he helped in research for chemical weapons. According to Shūjìchù reports Du was described as being a "loyal communist with proficiency in his profession and his organisational skills.".

Communist apparatchik
Du's peasant background coupled with his idealogical loyalty and glowing academic performance made him a candidate for joining the CPM, which he applied for in 1968. At the time Manchuria was gripped in the Anti Reactionary Campaign, a nationwide purge of officials accused of engaging in "counter revolutionary activity". Du was implicated it accusing several of his former classmates in such activities, which enabled him to become a member of the CPM.

Following his ascension to the party Du was moved from Harbin to where he was posted as the Party Overseer for the Dachangshandao  in Changhai County - it is thought that the Dachangshandao plant manufactured chemical weapons, most likely. At the chemical plant Du was known for taking a consensus approach to decision making making him popular amongst the workers and his colleagues. In 1973 he was transferred to Dalian where he served as the Economic Secretary for the city, where he implemented some of the more reformist orientated economic policies. Du's willingness to change the status quo caught the eyes of his superiors, as many apparatchiks were highly conservative in pursuing any sort of reform. In 1978 he was appointed to the post of Deputy Secretary for Dalian by the city's party secretary, Zhang Xiomang.

Dalian secretary
In 1980 the Chairman of the CPM's Standing Committee Tao Shiyou ascended to the rank of First Secretary. Tao, a reformist within the party, sought to strengthen his control amongst local party cadres by decentralising power from the more conservative central government in Harbin where Tao's reforms where more heavily opposed. By giving power to local authorities Tao was able to build up stronger grass roots appeal in the party as well as ensure his program was fully implemented.

That year Du was appointed to the Reformatory Economic Consultative Committee which advocated for more liberal reforms to the socialist economic system and was invited to the Central Economic Policy Directorate in 1981 where he helped draft the 8th five-year plan, where he became a staunch ally to Tao and his so-called "New Communism". Seen as a rising star within the party, in 1983 Du was appointed as Party Secretary for Dalian, effectively having control over the city.

As Party Secretary for Dalian Du removed many in the party branch in the city n corruption charges, stacking high positions with those loyal to him. When he started as party secretary he took a consensus approach to leadership; however this quickly evaporated as he amassed more power around himself and a small cadre of his own loyal followers, thus creating a power base for himself within Dalian. Du held direct elections for the rubber stamp Municipal Council in Dalian - all candidates were members of the CPM, but there were multiple names on the ballot paper. Du also had a record number of women sit on the Municipal Council in a symbolic gesture to women's rights. Du also made comprehensive economic reform, encouraging private trade between citizens whilst lessening price controls and decentralising power in state owned enterprises. Wage differentials were also encouraged as was a steady flow of consumer goods. Du's reforms in Dalian were greeted with scepticism from the party elite in Harbin, but were replicated to varying degrees in other urban areas. This caught the attention of Tao Shiyou who stated that Dalian was the most efficiently governed region of the country". Du was widely considered to be Tao's protégé, being appointed both to the secretariat and the Central Committee and poised to become a member of the politburo and possible successor to Tao Shiyou in 1986.

In 1986 Tao Shiyou made a scathing repudiation of the reforms purused in the by  and criticised reformists who called for a "repeal of socialism" leading a purge against reformists spearheaded by party conservatives such as Gao Yuzhang, Sun Xianxheng and Yang Hanjun. Despite leading a purge against reformists, Du was able to escape persecution, mobilising the reformist bloc within the Central Committee to vote to retain his position. The purge of reformists left few of them left in the politburo, with the most powerful being the former head of the Shūjìchù Yuan Xiang and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission Qing Hongshu. Du was able to continue his reforms in Dalian, albeit at a slower pace due to increased conservative opposition. Within the central committee, Du was perhaps the most strident voice for reform. In 1988 Du made a speech to the Central Committee where he made several veiled attacks against the government of Tao, criticising the CPM for having lost its revolutionary edge and that repression that weakened the bond between the party and the proletariat. Du was subsequently arrested and detained by the Shūjìchù where he was tortured through electrocution - it took the personal intervention of Qing and Yuan to secure his release and re-appoint him to Dalian secretary, much to the dissatisfaction of conservatives. The party conservatives inability to successfully purge Du showed the deep factionalism embedded in the party. Following his purging and subsequent rehabilitation Du kept a low profile, with reforms in Dalian reaching a standstill.

Orchid Revolution
In 1989 tensions had flared up in the. Triggered by a massive wave of, the came to an  with the trade union  which set the stage for the semi-democratic. The unrest in Poland sparked protests and demonstrations around the communist bloc - in, and  protests were held whilst in  and  the regimes passed through several democratic reforms. This saw several pro-democracy students (Wang Ximing, Li Ling, and Li Dongfang) enter the central square in Dalian in August and start flying the flag of the Manchu Republic, causing them to be arrested by the police. This prompted several hundred Manchu citizens to take to the streets showing solidarity with the arrested students. Underground and government supported labour unions and student groups appealed to the Municipal Council to release the students, quickly creating the Popular Front for Democracy and Revolution which aimed to unite pro-democracy forces together in Dalian.

The creation of the Popular Front prompted the central government in Harbin to order Du to send in military to break up the protests. Du refused, and subsequently released the students who had put up the flag, calling the initial act "a non-crime". At this point Du had not sided with the protesters, but had openly defied the central government. On September 5th Du's membership to the CPM was revoked, causing Du to openly support the Popular Front and becoming its de facto leader. The release of the students saw protests erupt around the country - in Qiqihar protesters stormed the party's offices and took it over, declaring elections for the city's local administration would be undertaken immediately. The ongoing protests saw the central government split on how to respond to them - hardliners like Qing advocated for a crackdown whilst moderates like Yuan were more open to pursue a dialogue. In December Sun in his role as head of the security forces led a crackdown in the largest city of Mukden with the civilian and secret polices brutally crushing the protests - however the armed forces were subsequently deployed to break up the fighting between the protesters and police forces. The factionalism that had gripped the party since the late 1950's finally came to full force as many liberal and reformist members broke from the CPM to form the Social Democratic Party. This alongside the splits within the armed forces and the open rebellion in Dalian threatened to plunge Manchuria into a in December as clashes between protesters, security forces and the military became common in Harbin.

On the 13th December Tao called an emergency politburo meeting where he attempted to rally support for a further crackdown. However after the botched "Mukden Storm" and the creation of the SDP Tao and the hardliners had lost support resulting in moderates such as Yuan, Qing and Yang Hajun to oust Tao appointing Yuan as Premier. Yuan attempted to stabilise the situation by promising to imprison corrupt officials, privatise and deregulate the economy, and give freedom of the press. However, those such as Du called for "democracy before compromise", refusing to negotiate with the government until they promised to hold genuine free and fair elections. Eventually on the 29th December Yuan capitulated in the face of massive destabilisation and announced that multi-party elections for the Premier and a would take place in January.

The CPM scheduled early elections in the hope that the opposition would be unable to consolidate around one candidate before the election took place. This had a reverse effect - Du was able to successfully convince the majority of opposition parties (including the SDP, Manzuxiehui and United People's Party) to join the Popular Front. Du also created his own party, the Democratic Party (Minzhudang). In contest the CPM was still struggling from infighting as many former members of the regime deserted the party to be absorbed into the civil service instead. The CPM's dominance of the political institutions meant that the party all but collapsed, with only the politburo and a rump Central Committee effectively functioning. As well as this bitter debate between hardliners and moderates continued to rage across its members as Yuan Xiang was nominated as the CPM's premierial candidate.