Orange for high-ranking bureaucrat (8)
I believe the answer is:
mandarin
I believe this clue is a double definition.
'orange' is the first definition.
(thesaurus)
'high-ranking bureaucrat' is the second definition.
(I've seen this before)
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for mandarin that I've seen before include "top official" , "Official language for all of China" , "Top person in Whitehall" , "Many millions speak of this" , "A billion people understand it" .)