China’s graft watchdog vows to continue crackdown on corrupt government officials
The Central Committee for Discipline Inspection says focus of investigations will be people suspected of continuing criminal offences since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012
PUBLISHED : Monday, 15 June, 2015, 4:23pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 16 June, 2015, 12:07am
Nectar Gan and Keira Lu Huang [email protected] [email protected]
President Xi Jinping has launched an unprecedented campaign targeting China's Communist Party, government, military and state-owned company officials suspected of corruption since he came to power. Photo: Xinhua
The top graft watchdog has vowed to root out corrupt heads of central and local government departments – no matter how difficult the task – as it focuses its investigations on suspects that have continued to offend since President Xi Jinping came to power in 2012.
In an article on the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection’s website yesterday, it said that although the situation for the anti-corruption drive remained difficult and complex, the campaign’s strong impetus would not falter.
“Within a group, the leader is the most important person, who decides the political ecology of a locality or a department,” it said. “[The cases of] those heads with severe problems should be tackled – no matter how difficult.”
The watchdog presented its efforts in a metaphor, vowing to root out all the “rotten trees” in a “forest” to prevent the infection of corruption from spreading.
Peking University anti-graft expert Zhuang Deshui said government heads at various levels were very powerful and it was hard for graft-busters at the same level to keep their power in check, which exposed the position to a higher risk of corruption.
“Around one-third of the corruption cases were related to the heads,” Zhuang said. “Taking down corrupted heads can bring a deterrent effect and send a message to the public.”
China watcher Johnny Lau Yui-siu said government department heads included both senior officials and low-ranking cadres.
“The article did not specify which level of government heads would be targeted,” Lau said. “The graft probes at the lower level have not stopped, but they have slowed at the middle to senior levels.”
The CCDI’s article said the crackdown should remain focused.
“The focus of the investigation should be on officials who have not restrained themselves since the 18th party congress [in November 2012], who have many problems and have received serious complaints from the public, and who hold key positions and may be promoted,” it said.
In investigating cadres who violate party rules banning official extravagance, emphasis would also be on offences committed after the 18th party congress, especially after the new rules were introduced.
Zhuang said while the focus was to suppress new cases, it did not mean the government would let off previous offenders.
The report was the fourth of a series of articles the CCDI had published since last month to shed light for the public on its operations and internal reforms, including urging the party’s anti-graft agents to seek approvals from their leaders before conducting investigations, not to focus only on the big cases, and to leave the investigations of criminal offences to the government prosecutors.
Peng Xinlin, associate professor at the Beijing Normal University’s College for Criminal Law Science, who is researching the crackdown, said the campaign had entered a transition phase.
“On the surface, it has achieved a milestone, but it needs innovation in the system and mechanics,” Peng said.
