The term Tsinghua clique refers to a group of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politicians that have graduated or have taught at Tsinghua University (). They are members of the

fourth generation of Chinese leadership Generations of Chinese leadership is a term historians use to characterize distinct periods of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and, by extension, successive changes in the ideology of the CCP. Historians have studied vario ...

, and are purported to hold powerful reformist ideas (a number have studied in the United States following graduation from Tsinghua, and some are said to be influenced by the reform ideals of Hu Yaobang). Just like their predecessors, they attach great importance to socialism with Chinese characteristics. Their ascendance to power is likely to have begun in 2008 at the CCP's 17th National Congress. Many Tsinghua graduates rise to political prominence. Among the 7 standing committees at the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

, there is one Tsinghua graduate; among the 25 Politburo committee members, there are three. Key figures are reported to currently include: * Xi Jinping *

Wang Qishan Wang Qishan (; ; born 19 July 1948) is a Chinese politician, and the current Vice President of the People's Republic of China. Wang is one of the leading figures behind China's foreign affairs, along with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Ke ...

* Chen Xi * Li Xi *

Hu Heping Hu Heping (; born 24 October 1962) is a Chinese politician and the current Chinese Communist Party Committee Secretary, Communist Party Secretary of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Culture and Touri ...

Chen Jining Chen Jining (; born 4 February 1964) is a Chinese academic and politician who is a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party and the current Communist Party secretary of Shanghai. An environmental engineer by profession, Chen served ...

* Zhang Guoqing *

Yang Yue Yang Yue (; born July 1968) is a Chinese politician, and the current head of the United Front Work Department of the Jiangsu provincial organization of the Chinese Communist Party. He previously held office as Communist Party Secretary of Fuzho ...

Retired or deceased: * Zhang Dongsun * Zhang Junmai * Luo Longji * Fei Xiaotong * Pan Guangdan *

Qian Weichang Qian Weichang or Chien Wei-zang (; 9 October 1912 – 30 July 2010) was a Chinese physicist and applied mathematician, as well as academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He served as President of Shanghai University. Career Qian was b ...

Peng Peiyun Peng Peiyun (Simplified Chinese: 彭珮云; born 1929 at Liuyang, Hunan Province, China) is a Chinese politician. Biography Peng was admitted to the National Southwestern Associated University at 15. She graduated from Qinghua University and ...

Kang Shien Kang Shi'en (; 20 April 1915 – 21 April 1995) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary who participated in the December 9th Movement and a politician who served as China's Vice Premier and Minister of Petroleum. Perceived as a member of the " O ...

Wu Guanzheng Wu Guanzheng (born August 11, 1938), also spelled as Wu Kuan-cheng is a former Chinese politician and one of the major leaders of the Chinese Communist Party during the administration of Hu Jintao. He served on the Politburo Standing Committee ...

Hu Qili Hu Qili (; born 6 October 1929) is a former high-ranking politician of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was a member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and a member of its Secretariat between 1987 and 1989. In 1989, he was purged becaus ...

* Huang Ju *

Yao Yilin Yao Yilin (; September 6, 1917 – December 11, 1994) was a Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1979 to 1988, and the country's First Vice Premier from 1988 to 1993. Early life and career He was born in Hong Kong in 1917, and sp ...

* Song Ping *

Li Ximing Li Ximing (; February 1926 – November 10, 2008) was the Chinese Communist Party boss in Beijing during the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in the capital and across the country. Li was elected to the 13th Politburo of the Chinese Comm ...

* Wang Hanbin *

Zhou Guangzhao Zhou Guangzhao (; born May 15, 1929) is a Chinese theoretical physicist who served as President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences from 1987 to 1997. Early life and education Zhou Guangzhao was born on May 15, 1929 in Changsha, the capital of ...

Zheng Tianxiang Zheng Tianxiang (; September 9, 1914 – October 10, 2013) was a Chinese politician and was the President of the Supreme People's Court of China. Biography Zheng was born in Inner Mongolia. He was educated in Tsinghua University from 1935 to 1 ...

* Zhu Rongji *

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...

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, although he is generally considered more loyal to Jiang Zemin's

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Lin Wenyi Lin Wenyi (; born September 1944) is a Chinese engineer and politician. Career and education She was the Chairman of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League between 2005 and 2017, a legally sanctioned minor political party in China, a Vice C ...

, chairman of the

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Liu Yandong Liu Yandong (; is a retired Chinese politician. She recently served as the Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, and was a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party from 2007 to 2017, a State Councilor between 2007 and ...

The Tsinghua clique also referred to a group of Nationalist Chinese politicians who held high power in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

government and fled to Taiwan with the government during the Chinese Civil War. All of them are deceased: *

Yeh Kung-chao George Kung-chao Yeh (1904–1981), also known as Yeh Kung-chao, was a diplomat and politician of the Republic of China. Educated in the U.S. and the U.K., he graduated from Amherst College in 1925 and later Cambridge University. He taught Engl ...

Yu Guohua Yu Kuo-hwa () (January 10, 1914 – October 4, 2000) was the Premier of the Republic of China from 1984 to 1989. Biography He was born on 10 January 1914 in Fenghua, Ningbo, Zhejiang, Republic of China, China. He studied for degrees at Harvard ...

Yen Zhenxing The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

Mei Yi-chi Mei Yiqi or Mei Yi-chi (; 29 December 1889 – 19 May 1962), courtesy name Yuehan (), was a Chinese politician, physicist and educator, who served two separate terms as Ministry of Education of the Republic of China, from 1948 to 1949 and from 195 ...

Luo Jialun Luo Jialun (; December 21, 1897 - December 25, 1969), was the former Chinese Minister of Education, historian, diplomat and political activist. A noted scholar, he was one of the leaders of the May Fourth Movement in 1919. Subsequently, being di ...

* Hu Shih * Sun Li-jen

References

*"The rise of Qinghua alumni in Beijing's political circle", by Ting Wang, '' Hong Kong Economic Journal'', 29 December 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Qinghua Clique Factions of the Chinese Communist Party Qinghua clique Tsinghua University alumni

See also

References