China Digital Times

China news tagged with: anti-corruption (83)

• China Pledges Anticorruption Battle at National People’s Congress

  

  The Christian Science Monitor reports on the ongoing NPC meetings in Beijing:

  This year Wen’s take-home message was that the government would step up the fight against corruption, a tacit acknowledgment that the widespread problem has a direct bearing on the Communist Party’s grip on power. Wen also said transparency should empower the people and the media to oversee the government.

  Yet for the roughly 500 reporters representing overseas news organizations in Beijing, it’s not the words of the premier that matter so much, but the words of the low-level politicians from across China gathered in the capital for the next two weeks. “What we can get out of the NPC is listening,” Erling says.

  A few years ago, for the first time, the foreign press were invited into panel discussions that sometimes hint at what’s to come. In 2007, for instance, one such panel introduced Xi Jinping. Then a part of the Shanghai delegation, Mr. Xi now is widely expected to be named president in 2012.

  Veterans say they watch for high numbers of symbolic “no” votes in what’s understood to be the predetermined election of delegates. Reporters also are on the lookout for the occasional real surprise in what legitimately is dubbed a rubber stamp parliament for its predictability. There was 1998, for instance, when Qiao Shi, then chairman of the standing committee of the NPC, was ousted in an unexpected twist to an otherwise expected government shakeup.

  See also “Profile: China’s National People’s Congress” from BBC.

  » Read more
  • March 6, 2010 1:21 AM

• China’s New Ethics Code for Partymen

  

  From the Times of India:

  For years, major changes in the Communist Party of China have preceded a war on corruption. Anti-corruption drives have been used to smash or weaken political rivals. The CPC today unveiled a new drive that is appears set cause serious tremors in Chinese business and politics at the same time.

  The latest ethics code has a 52-point check list, which would make it extremely difficult for vast numbers of party officials to prove themselves to be totally untainted. Two potent diktats: party members connected to business enterprises and real estate deals will be punished.

  “This is a sign of inner party struggle. It is closely related to the succession issue in the Communist Party leadership. This is also an attempt to curb the growing influence of money power in the party set up,” Srikanth Kondapalli, professor of Chinese studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, told TNN.

  “The action shows Chinese president Hu Jintao is finally in full control of the party. There is going to be a scramble among party members to prove their loyalty,” a senior diplomat with a western country said on condition of anonymity.

  » Read more
  • February 24, 2010 12:35 PM

• China To Try Top Judge For Graft

  

  From AFP:

  One of China’s former top judges will be tried for taking up to four million yuan ($A652,000) in bribes, in one of the nation’s most high-profile graft cases, the state press says.

  Huang Songyou, former deputy head of the Supreme People’s Court, will go on trial by the first week of March, making him the most senior judicial official to be tried since the establishment of new China in 1949, the Chongqing Evening News said on Sunday.

  Huang, 52, is being accused of abusing power, enabling profit for others, taking bribes and living a “corrupt and lavish” life, the report said.

  » Read more
  • January 3, 2010 3:38 AM

• Net’s Role in Fighting Corruption Praised

  

  He Guoqiang (贺国强), Politburo Standing Committee member and head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, recently spoke about the utility of the Internet as a channel to gather comments for fighting corruption. From China Daily (h/t Danwei):

  He, secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said channels should be expanded to solicit public opinions and efforts be made to give full play to the positive role that the Internet has had in the fight against corruption.

  “He’s remarks showed the unprecedented resolute determination of the CPC to fight corruption, and it will lead to powerful practice,” said Ye Duchu, a senior professor with the Central Party School.

  “The top officials of the CPC have realized that online opinion is a weapon to curb graft, but it is a tough decision for them to make as the Party had been very cautious about handling information against a Party member,” Ye said.

  » Read more
  • November 20, 2009 3:02 PM

• Central Commission for Discipline Inspection Opens National Informant Website

  

  A new website under the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for reporting corrupt official activities, www.12388.gov.cn, has just opened. From China News Service [CN], translated by CDT:

  

  Following the opening of last year’s 12388 reporting hotline, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has also opened a informant website (www.12388.gov.cn) this month in order to take a step forward in broadening petitioning channels. The website’s purpose is to collect people’s reports and information regarding Party members, Party organizations, and other targets of administrative inspection whose behavior violated Party discipline, as well as their ideas and suggestions for Party work style and clean governance construction and anti-corruption work.

  Actually, as early as 2005, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection provincial departments (district, city) had already opened informant websites. However, without a standardized plan, each Inspection organ’s website was built at different stages of development, domain names were different, and the working system was inadequate. These among other problems all hampered the websites from used fully and effectively. In order to unite under a national standard for the establishment of informant websites at each level, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection had each province (district, city) share a standard domain, set construction standards and run time requirements, as well as fixed a standard entry access page.

  Read more about the hotline introduced in June 2008 at Danwei.

  » Read more
  • October 28, 2009 8:06 PM

• Six Sentenced to Death in China’s Mass Gangster Trial

  

  Six people have been sentenced to death in the massive corruption crackdown in Chongqing. The Times reports:

  The first 31 suspects went on trial this month and were sentenced today. Yang Tianqing, 35, the ringleader, was sentenced to death for mafia-style gang activities, murder, assault and extortion, along with five others. Three were given a two-year reprieve — the equivalent of a life sentence — but the other three face certain execution.

  Yang was accused of ordering his men to stab an entertainment boss without killing him. The man’s body was found soaked in blood with 15 knife wounds. Also given the death penalty was Liu Zhongyong, accused of ordering the fatal stabbing of a man he thought was singing too loudly in a karaoke bar. He admitted only to owning a coal mine, to illegal mining and to paying off the family of three workers killed in a shaft collapse.

  The court said: “This organisation illegally controlled the Yubei district . . . carried out illegal criminal activities against land and construction developers and coerced ordinary people. Their influence has been odious.”

  At the end of the hearing, Yang urged the court to retry the case because it was so complicated. He said that there was “someone bigger” who was responsible for the killing.

  See also reports from The Guardian, Time, and Xinhua. Read more about the Chongqing corruption crackdown via CDT.

  » Read more
  • October 21, 2009 2:35 PM

• China Corruption Trial Exposes Capital of Graft

  

  The Telegraph has a report on the ongoing crackdown on corruption in Chongqing which, after five months, has become China’s largest-ever criminal investigation:

  The sweep began in June, when officers began to raid the city’s illegal gun factories, seizing over 1,700 firearms. As their leads multiplied, however, the police widened their search. An operation that began with 3,000 policemen is now being conducted by 25,000 officers, as the city tries to rid itself of an insidious mafia network that stretches to the very highest levels of the Communist party.

  So far, 4,893 suspected gangsters have been taken into custody, many of them city officials, including a former deputy police commissioner and the head of the city’s Justice bureau, Wen Qiang. Mr Wen, who is suspected of having accumulated a fortune of over 100 million yuan (£10 million) in bribes, is said to have been the overall godfather of the city, a protective umbrella who shielded the gangs from the authorities.

  The operation revealed the depths of corruption inside Chongqing’s monumental police headquarters, with some Chinese reports suggesting that one-fifth of the city’s police has been removed. Officers have revealed sudden morning meetings at which their colleagues were dramatically purged and led away in handcuffs.

  Meanwhile, a small core of investigators have been taken “to a secret location” and “have all signed confidentiality agreements” so that no one knows where they will strike next, according to Chen Xiaohua, a Chongqing lawyer. Every policeman in the city has been reassigned a new beat to break up any patronage they may have enjoyed in their old patches.

  
  Read more about the investigation and corruption in Chongqing via CDT.

  » Read more
  • October 18, 2009 8:35 PM

• More Reactions to the ‘Sunshine Act’

  

  Earlier, CDT posted an excerpt of a September 24th Southern Weekend editorial on a recent communiqué from Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that announced officials are “required to report all records pertaining to housing and investments as well as child and spouse employment. Those officials whose families have moved abroad will have increased supervision.” This ‘Sunshine Act’ (阳光法案) is part of a larger drive for freedom of information, which, if ideally implemented, would allow citizens to request government information disclosure at little to no cost.

  According to the Southern Weekend article, there are three methods to implement the Sunshine Act: (1) a method favored by officials, (2) a method favored by the public, and (3) compromised position between the two groups. Andy Yee translates a selection of user feedback to this and more at Global Voices:

  wunanwunan 28-9-2009: I am willing to compromise and hope future officials will be clean. Our country and party don’t need to collapse. The issue is to find out when and on what basis the public is willing to compromise. If not, the CCP will use the excuse that the public is not willing to compromise and postpone the sunshine policy indefinitely.

  Reader yippee 25-9-2009: This is a test on the CCP’s political wisdom. I support the iron hand policy because people support it. CCP always claims that its mission is to serve the people. Now that people are making the demand, how can the public servant say no? How can they dare to use the slogan “serving the people” if they say no?

  tiger7428 25-9-2009: I can assert that without democracy, the so-called asset declaration policy would look like a decorative vase even if implemented. The key processes of declaration, publicizing, supervision and accountability are at the hand of government officials. It’s like hitting one’s right hand with his left hand. It is impossible to cure corruption with such kind of procedural policy. Without public monitor and without being accountable to the people, the iron hand policy is just a return to the ancient China way of depending on the appearance of “good and righteous officials”. Our history has proved that it won’t work.

  At Caijing, reporter Hu Shuli takes a look at previous initiatives and regulations that promoted government transparency, and notes some of their effectiveness and public support. The article, however, closes on a sober note and underscores the need for institutional changes:

  Reforms can come gradually, but the process must be ongoing. Admittedly, China’s existing assets disclosure rules lag far behind prevailing sunshine laws found in other parts of the world. And they should be improved. Among other deficiencies, their scope is too narrow and their reach not comprehensive enough. What’s more, disclosure category and time limits run slack. Disclosures should be publicized and regulations made state law, while lessons gleaned from past experience should serve to strengthen implementation.

  What should be underscored is that any sunshine law can only function as part of a much broader system for preventing corruption. Under the existing system, China does not lack regulations on paper, nor is there any shortage of specific, concrete measures. What’s lacking is a systematic, organically coordinated and functioning institution.

  To learn more about freedom of information (also referred to as access to information [ATI] and open government information [OGI]), see the China Elections and Governance’s site on Open Government Information in China.

  » Read more
  • October 1, 2009 11:43 PM

• Dai Zhiyong (戴志勇): If the People Can Learn to Compromise, Please Learn to Govern Honestly

  

  A signed editorial in Southern Weekend looks at the reasons why a Sunshine Law is not likely to be implemented in China soon, despite widespread public support for one:

  The survey also showed that 90% of people supported passing a Sunshine Act as soon as possible. The ruling party even more so sees anti-corruption as an “important political task,” as they strive to avoid the dire straights the KMT once found itself in, namely either you fight corruption and destroy the party or don’t fight it and destroy the country.

  Simply put, there are two ways to bring obfuscation and hypocrisy into the light. One is to bring an end to certain powers, such as minimizing the number of personnel under a corrupt official and curbing the right to approval and allocation of resources. The powers that must be left to this person must made transparent and accountable. The other option has already won favor among the Chinese public. It is a property declaration system which originally comes from Sweden and is popular in the much of the world. A legitimate source must be provided for all income and assets worth more than 200RMB. If this can’t be done, the result is denunciation, loss of job or even incarceration. Even if there are greater powers which can be abused, it is unlikely they will avoid monetization. The problem is that this idea is useless unless there is a complete commitment to it. Even though it is a good system, we must face the fact that only 3% of official workers support it.

  » Read more
  • September 29, 2009 12:49 PM

• Is Bo Xilai’s Corruption Crackdown Good for China?

  

  From Global Voices Online, John Kennedy shares netizen responses to the effectiveness of — and motivations behind — Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai’s anti-corruption campaign:

  While results from the ongoing crackdown on corruption in central China’s Chongqing municipality have shown the campaign’s effectiveness and boosted the popularity of Bo Xilai, the high-ranking CCP official heading it, online discussion has also featured several questions.

  Such as questioning of the CCP internal discipline ‘double regulation’, through which has already led to the death of one high-ranking police official suspect. Also, Bo’s motives, whether the crackdown is spurred more by his political ambitions and an eye on the top spot than a commitment to transparency and rule of law. There’s also the problem of how the CCP might effectively curb corruption when it’s the biggest player in it.

  » Read more
  • September 26, 2009 7:42 PM

• Party’s Agenda in China Seems to Fall Flat

  

  The New York Times reports on what didn’t happen at this year’s recently-concluded Party plenum:

  China’s Communist Party elite had billed its four-day strategy session as an attack on “acute problems” that threatened the party’s political standing, like official corruption, China’s yawning gap between the rich and poor, and the lack of democracy within the party’s own ranks.

  But besides an anticorruption directive that would force officials and their families to disclose their property holdings and investments, initial reports from the meeting last week suggested that the Central Committee’s members either were reluctant to make major changes, or disagreed over how those changes might be made.

  State news media reports of communiqués issued Friday and Saturday, after the Central Committee and subcommittee meetings ended, said little that differed from past policy sessions on the need for party democracy, which had been cast as the major theme of the session.

  See also “Doubts emerge about Beijing’s succession plan” from the Financial Times and “Chinese puzzle: who is Hu’s heir?” from The Age about the failure of the plenum to nominate Xi Jinping to the Central Military Commision, thus casting his anticipated role as Hu Jintao’s heir apparent in doubt.

  » Read more
  • September 20, 2009 8:22 PM

• China’s Communist Party Mulls New Anti-graft Rules

  

  MarketWatch has more on the highly secretive CCP plenum taking place this week:

  An annual gathering of China’s Communist Party taking place this week may produce new government transparency rules and anti-corruption guidelines, party watchers said.

  The plenum session of the party’s Central Committee, which brings together 200 top members in closed-door meetings, is expected to discuss such rules against official misuse of power to help quell rising public discontent.

  “Tough rules might be passed for the declaration of assets by officials,” said Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts in a research note. “The integrity of the ruling [Communist Party of China] and the government should be the key for China’s growth in the medium to long term.”

  Merrill analysts also said they expect little in the way of substantive fiscal or monetary policy change at this week’s meeting, ahead of the celebrations Oct. 1 to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

  » Read more
  • September 16, 2009 1:31 PM

• Kunming Hails Breakthrough on Watchdog Journalism

  

  The China Media Project analyzes a new initiative in Kunming that purports to fight corruption by protecting the work investigative journalists:

  The latest ooh-ah move comes from the city of Kunming, which earlier this month issued a draft ordinance against official abuse of duty saying that leaders who “interfered with or obstructed legal acts of press supervision would be held accountable and even face legal liability.”

  Chinese editorials have called the law an “ice breaking action.” The shift, some say, from “official documentation in support [of watchdog journalism] to actual laws in support [of watchdog journalism]” marks a fundamental breakthrough.

  Others, fortunately, have been duly skeptical.

  [...] From the standpoint of journalists, these ordinances have offered no real encouragement. The environment for Chinese investigative reporters, the standard bearers of “supervision by public opinion,” has gotten steadily worse since 2004, and local governments bear much of the blame.

  What enthusiastic commentators on the Kunming ordinance fail to acknowledge is the fact that press control in China is not ultimately a matter of law. It is a matter of party discretion.

  » Read more
  • August 27, 2009 1:04 PM

• China Investigates Top Nuclear Official

  

  From New York Times:

  The top official of China’s civilian and military nuclear power programs is being investigated for “grave violations of discipline,” a phrase often used in corruption inquiries, the Chinese Communist Party’s disciplinary committee has announced.

  The official, Kang Rixin, is the general manager and Communist Party secretary of China National Nuclear Corporation, a vast holding company that is spearheading plans to increase the nation’s capacity to generate nuclear power at least sixfold in the next decade.

  Mr. Kang, 56, also is a member of the Communist Party Central Committee, the party’s senior ruling body, and sits on the same party disciplinary committee that is investigating him.

  See also a report from China Daily.

  » Read more
  • August 6, 2009 8:33 AM

• Video: Netizens Fight Corruption in China

  

  From Al Jazeera:

  China has long had a reputation for relatively high levels of graft. Almost everyone, including police, local officials, doctors and businessmen, expects and receives bribes.

  But netizens are now challenging the way business is done as Al Jazeera’s Melissa Chan reports from Beijing.

  » Read more
  • June 28, 2009 10:37 AM

CDT BOOKSHELF

China Digital Times is run by the Berkeley China Internet Project | Copyright © China Digital Times | Powered by WordPress.