A one-line Xinhua dispatch yesterday quoted unnamed officials within the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) as saying that Liu Tienan, the 58-year-old deputy director of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), was being investigated, but it gave no details.

Sources close to the matter said Liu was formally placed under investigation yesterday and that his home and office were searched by CCDI officials on Saturday night.

…

Liu’s case was first announced on December 6 on the microblog account of a deputy editor of news magazine Caijing. Luo Changping reported on his verified Sina Weibo account a series of allegations against Liu, including that he fabricated academic credentials, improperly profited from his position and kept a mistress.

…

Liu made several public appearances in the following couple of weeks, including at a national working conference on development and reform on December 18. However, a source familiar with the case told the Post that Liu had been barred since mid-December from attending official activities related to external affairs.

[Source]

Liu becomes the second vice-ministerial-level official to be targeted by new president Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign, after the deputy party secretary of Sichuan province was placed under investigation in December. The announcement did not mention any specific allegations against Liu, who served as director of the National Energy Administration (NEA) until being replaced in March.

The NEA’s press office initially had called the allegations against Liu as “pure slander,” according to Gillian Wong of the Associated Press. Luo Changping, the journalist who initiated a public campaign against Liu last year, told The New York Times that he believed the official allegations were related to his own:

“I know there’s a direct connection, but I can’t say any more,” Mr. Luo said in a telephone interview.

“I had felt panicky before because nothing was happening, but I’ve breathed a sigh of relief now that this has happened,” he said, referring to the inquiry.

[Source]

© Scott Greene for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, corruption, high-level corruption, investigative journalism, National Development and Reform Commission, Xi Jinping
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“They never register the houses in their own names and they use a string of agents to do the deals,” said Mr Fu. He said one company had bribed an official by buying him a property at the Mountain Water International Complex. “The property was put in the name of the official’s relative. After six months, it was sold for two million yuan (£200,000), around the same amount it cost. Then the official could cash out.

[…] Marco Pearman-Parish at Corporation China, a company in Beijing that helps clients find properties abroad, said there had been a strong rise in clients looking for homes in the Cayman Islands.

“In Beijing, half our clients are government officials,” he said. “Nine out of ten claim to be businessmen, but it emerges over the course of the deal that they have government jobs. What they are looking for is resident permits abroad so that if anything happens they can escape easily.”

Neither the anti-corruption speeches nor the escape artistry began with Xi’s appointment in November. According to the Commission report, Moore writes, as much as U.S. $1 trillion was smuggled out of China last year—though this figure is disputed—while 714 officials made successful getaways during the October National Day holidays alone.

© Samuel Wade for China Digital Times (CDT), 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: anti-corruption, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, corrupt officials, corruption, naked officials, property market, real estate, smuggling, Xi Jinping
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The following examples of censorship instructions, issued to the media and/or Internet companies by various central (and sometimes local) government authorities, have been leaked and distributed online. Chinese journalists and bloggers often refer to those instructions as “Directives from the Ministry of Truth.” CDT has collected the selections we translate here from a variety of sources and has checked them against official Chinese media reports to confirm their implementation.

Since directives are sometimes communicated orally to journalists and editors, who then leak them online, the wording published here may not be exact. The original publication date is noted after the directives; the date given may indicate when the directive was leaked, rather than when it was issued. CDT does its utmost to verify dates and wording, but also takes precautions to protect the source.

The following directives were all issued by the Guangdong Department of Propaganda. CDT published three other directives from this source on November 7.

Guangdong Department of Propaganda: Do not report or comment on the situation concerning East China Normal University professor Zhang Xuezhong. (November 8, 2012)

广东省委宣传部：对华东师范大学教师张雪忠的有关情况不报不评。

Zhang, a professor at the Shanghai university’s law school, was barred from teaching undergraduates in September after writing about the plan to introduce patriotism classes into Hong Kong schools [zh]. (Protests lead the plan to be scrapped.) Zhang’s Sina and Tencent Weibo accounts were deleted in early October, but he has “reincarnated” and continues to post on the microblogging platforms. He wrote the following weibo on Tencent on November 8:

ZhangXuezhong: Without democracy, we cannot contain corruption; if we cannot contain corruption, we cannot improve people’s lives; if we do not improve people’s lives, social development is out of the question. The root of all problems lies in our lack of democracy; the solution to all these problems lies in realizing democracy. I have never once believed that I can degrade myself to the point that I cannot even enjoy the conditions for democratic rights; I have always believed that those who deprive me of my democratic rights are the true enemy.

张雪忠:没有民主，就不可能遏制腐败；不能遏制腐败，就不可能改善民生；不改善民生，就谈不上社会发展。一切问题的根源，就在于缺乏民主；一切问题的答案， 就在于实现民主。我从来就不相信会低贱到连享有民主权利的资格都没有；我一直都认为，那些剥夺民主权利的人，才是真正的敌人。

Guangdong Department of Propaganda: Do not reprint, report, or comment on retired Guangzhou Shipyard International and Guangzhou City Construction Group [广州城建集团] senior employee Li Yunqing owning 24 properties and related reports. (November 8, 2012)

广东省委宣传部：对广船、广州城建退休高层李芸卿拥有24套房产一事及相关报道不转载、不报道、不评论。

Guangdong Department of Propaganda: Do not report or comment on the online rumor that Sun Zhigang‘s younger brother Sun Zhiguo refuses to use his older brother’s fame to make money. (November 9, 2012)

广东省委宣传部：对网传孙志刚弟弟孙志国拒用其哥名声挣钱一事不报不评。

Guangdong Department of Propaganda: Do not report or comment on the news that two 18th Party Congress representatives were selected during a business workshop in Changchun, Jilin. (November 9, 2012)

广东省委宣传部：对吉林长春一企业一车间同时选出两名十八大代表一事不报不评。

Guangdong Department of Propaganda: The Guangdong delegation to the 18th Party Congress held a discussion on the morning of November 9. With regards to the segments during which Governor Zhu Xiaodan spoke and Chinese and foreign journalists asked questions, without exception strictly adhere to the news wire copy provided by the general office. Do not change the titles or body of the text. All media and websites are forbidden from making any other form of report or commentary. (November 9, 2012)

广东省委宣传部：十八大广东代表团9日上午开放讨论，有关朱小丹省长的发言和中外记者提问环节的问题一律严格按办公厅提供的新闻通稿刊播，不改动标题和内文，各媒体及网站不作其他任何形式的报道和评论。

Guangdong Department of Propaganda: Strictly review content with regards to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection report discussing revisions to the Party constitution. Use Xinhua wire copy without exception. Do not link to other reports. (November 11, 2012)

广东省委宣传部：对关于纪委报告讨论党章修改一事要严格把关，一律采用新华社通稿，不链接其它报道。

Guangdong Department of Propaganda: Do not report on, comment on, or reprint the following stories: yesterday’s breakdown on the high-speed train from Wuhan to Zhengzhou; Japanese participants being barred from participating in the Beijing Marathon; the news that 74% of government employees work overtime; the Shenzhen man who paid 19 years worth of social security taxes only received 1220 yuan in pension. (November 11, 2012)

广东省委宣传部：关于昨天武汉至郑州高铁故障、北京马拉松拒绝日本选手参赛、74%公务员超负荷工作、深圳一男子交了19年社保只取得退休养老金1220元等事不报不评不转。

Guangdong Department of Propaganda: Except for Xinhua wire copy, do not report on the media reports that Wang Lijun has been expelled from the Party and from public office. (November 11, 2012)

广东省委宣传部：对有媒体报道王立军被开除党籍、开除公职一事除新华社通稿外一律不报。

© Anne.Henochowicz for China Digital Times (CDT), 2012. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: 18th party congress, Beijing, Beijing Marathon, censorship, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Changchun, Directives from the Ministry of Truth, Guangdong, Guangdong Department of Propaganda, Internet censorship, jilin, media censorship, microblogs, Ministry of Truth, propaganda, Shenzhen, sina, sina weibo, sun zhigang, tencent, Tencent Weibo, Wang Lijun, weibo, wuhan, Xinhua, Zhang Xuezhong, Zhengzhou, Zhu Xiaodan
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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.

© Paulina Hartono for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: anti-corruption, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, He Guoqiang
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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.

© Paulina Hartono for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: anti-corruption, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, informants, translation excerpt
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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.

© Paulina Hartono for China Digital Times (CDT), 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: anti-corruption, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, freedom of information, Sunshine Law
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