Behind "The Most Intensive Anti-Corruption Week"
China News Weekly reporter/Zhou Qunfeng
Issued in the 1010th issue of China News Weekly on 2021.8.30
On August 23, the Supreme Prosecutor’s website disclosed that Song Liang, former member of the Standing Committee of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee and former deputy governor, was arrested.
On the same day, Xue Heng, the former vice chairman of the CPPCC of Liaoning Province, voluntarily surrendered.
The website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection also disclosed that within a week, eight people including Zhou Jiangyong, member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Secretary of the Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee, were investigated and 13 people, including Wang Fuyu, the former chairman of the Guizhou Provincial CPPCC, were punished, including 7 central management cadres.
The official website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection stated that the intensive briefing once again demonstrated the party's determination to severely punish corruption and its belief in victory, and released a strong signal of unswervingly administering the party in an all-round manner and sticking to the principle of strictness for a long time.
Mao Zhaohui, executive director of the Chinese Supervisory Society and director of the Anti-corruption and Integrity Policy Research Center of Renmin University of China, told China News Weekly that the recent intensive investigation of many officials was also out of consideration of purifying the political ecology. Half a year will be a peak period for anti-corruption."
A clear sign of increased anti-corruption efforts
On August 23, the 66-year-old former vice chairman of the Liaoning Provincial Political Consultative Conference, Xue Heng, voluntarily surrendered and became the latest central management cadre to fall.
"China News Weekly" combed the official website of the National Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and found that on January 22, Yu Zhigang, the former vice president of China University of Political Science and Law, was suspected of serious violations of discipline and law and accepted disciplinary review and supervision investigation, becoming the first central management to be investigated this year. cadre.
Xue Heng is the 21st provincial and ministerial-level official to be sacked this year, and the second central management cadre to be sacked within three days after Zhou Jiangyong.
Among the 21 persons mentioned above, 6 were investigated in July this year (Liu Chuansheng, former secretary of the Party Committee of Beijing Normal University, Xu Ming, former deputy director of the State Food Administration, Meng Xiang, director of the Executive Bureau of the Supreme People’s Court, and former deputy of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial People’s Congress Director Song Taiping, former deputy commander of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, former secretary of the Political and Legal Committee Yang Fulin, former vice chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission Cai Esheng), became the month with the largest number of “tigers” this year.
This has also become a clear signal that the anti-corruption efforts have increased since entering the second half of this year.
Of the 21 persons mentioned above, 12 are from localities, covering 11 provinces, including 2 from Liaoning, 1 from Gansu, Guizhou, Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangxi, Henan, Qinghai, Hebei, Xinjiang, and Zhejiang.
They cover universities (such as Yu Zhigang, the former vice president of China University of Political Science and Law), political and legal systems (such as the former vice governor of Shanxi Province, and the former director of the Provincial Public Security Department Liu Xinyun), state-owned enterprises (such as the former deputy general manager of China Guodian Corporation Xie Changjun), Financial system (such as Cai Esheng, former vice chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission) and many other fields.
There are 3 members of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee (Song Liang, member of the Standing Committee of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee, Gan Rongkun, member of the Standing Committee of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, and Zhou Jiangyong, member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee).
It is worth noting that among these middle-management cadres, "political and legal tigers" accounted for four, namely Liu Xinyun, Yang Fulin, Gan Rongkun (former member of the Henan Provincial Party Committee, former secretary of the Political and Legal Committee), and Meng Yongshan (former Procurator General of the Qinghai Provincial People’s Procuratorate). ), political and legal issues have become the field with the largest number of "fighting tigers" this year.
In addition, some officials also have a history of holding important positions in the political and legal system before being dismissed.
For example, starting in March 2011, Xue Heng has worked for two years in the positions of Deputy Governor of Liaoning Province, Director of the Provincial Public Security Department (concurrently), and Deputy Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee of the Provincial Party Committee (concurrently).
Analysis believes that the investigation of many current or former officials of the political and legal system is directly related to the recent continuous high-pressure education and rectification of the political and legal system.
Among the 21 people mentioned above, there are many retired officials. For example, Cai Esheng, the former vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, is 70 years old this year and retired 8 years ago.
Both Wang Fuyu and Xue Heng were investigated after they retired about three and a half years.
In Wang Fuyu's relevant report, he stated that he "has still been ignorant after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the extravagant life has been corrupted, his morals have been degraded, and he still lavishly collected money and fortune after retirement."
Mao Zhaohui pointed out that behind special crackdowns such as anti-criminal and anti-corruption activities in the financial sector, some years of corruption have also been discovered, leading to the investigation of retired officials.
In addition, in order to continue to exercise control over the unit after retirement, some officials will ensure that "people do not drink tea without being cold" and use their "remaining heat of power" to place some cronies in important positions in the unit.
After these cronies are investigated, the corresponding problems of such retired officials will be confessed, leading to their investigation.
In addition, three people (Meng Yongshan, Liu Chuansheng, Xue Heng) voluntarily surrendered.
On July 12, the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection revealed that since the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, 42,000 people have voluntarily contacted the party organization to find the discipline inspection and supervision agency to surrender.
In 2021, more than 40 cadres under provincial management and above have surrendered and are under review and investigation.
Mao Zhaohui said that after the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, a series of supervision system reforms such as the formulation of lien measures and the expansion of supervision targets have improved the Disciplinary Inspection Commission’s case-handling capabilities, and also made some problematic officials no longer feel lucky (so take the initiative to submit the case).
From August 16 to August 17, the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a notice within two days of the punishment of seven officials including Peng Bo (the former deputy director of the Office of the Central Leading Group for Prevention and Handling of Cult Issues).
Within a week (August 16-August 22), the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced that 8 people including Zhou Jiangyong were under review and investigation, and 13 people including Wang Fuyu were punished. This week is also known as "the most intensive anti-corruption week." .
Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of Peking University’s Public Policy Research Center and Integrity Construction Research Center, told China News Weekly that a number of officials have been investigated recently, including many central management cadres. This shows that, on the one hand, since the The central government has always maintained a high-handed anti-corruption posture, and to a certain extent refuted misconceptions such as the "anti-corruption shift theory" and "anti-corruption suspension theory".
On the other hand, it also verified the central government's overall judgment on the anti-corruption situation, that is, the anti-corruption has achieved an overwhelming victory, but the situation is still severe and complex.
After the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the fact that so many cadres in the central management did not converge, stop, and go their own way shows that we must maintain the anti-corruption high-pressure posture not to relax, otherwise the corrupt forces will rebound.
Zhuang Deshui said that at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the requirement to "maintain strength and enforce discipline will be stricter". A number of officials were investigated intensively, sending a strong signal that the party will be fully governed and discipline will be more stringent in the future.
Build a good political-business relationship through anti-corruption
Among these intensively investigated officials, although they come from different fields and positions, almost all involve economic issues.
For example, the notice pointed out that Wang Fuyu “obtained large returns through private loans, and worked for others in terms of project contracting, land development, and business operations”; Song Liang “used the financial regulatory authority in his hands as a tool for personal gain, and lavishly seized Illegal interests; Xie Changjun "relies on enterprises to eat enterprises and engages in power and money transactions"; Zhang Xinqi "makes profits for others in terms of business operation and project contracting."
From the analysis of the provinces involved in anti-corruption, Zhejiang, a major economic province, is particularly interesting.
After the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, compared with provinces such as Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, and Guangdong, which have become the "eye of the storm" in anti-corruption, Zhejiang is slightly calmer.
After Si Xinliang, the former vice chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, fell from the horse in 2015, and Lu Ziyue, the former mayor of Ningbo, was investigated in 2016, the province has never been investigated.
On August 21 this year, 54-year-old Zhou Jiangyong was investigated, making him the first central management cadre in Zhejiang Province in five years and the third in the province after the 18th National Congress.
He is also the first secretary of the Hangzhou municipal party committee to be investigated since the reform and opening up, and the first incumbent secretary of the municipal party committee of a provincial capital city to be investigated this year.
What triggered widespread public opinion was that on June 1, the former secretary of the Haishu District Committee of Ningbo City, Chu Mengxing, was investigated, and on August 19, Ma Xiaohui, the deputy secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress, voluntarily surrendered.
Zhou Jiangyong, Chu and Ma are both from Ningbo.
Ma Xiaohui served in Chu Mengxing’s hometown of Ninghai, Zhejiang for 6 years. He served as secretary of the Political and Legal Committee and county magistrate. He also had political experience with Zhou Jiangyong in Wenzhou, Hangzhou and other places.
Therefore, public opinion generally believes that the recent investigations of several "Zhejiang officials" may lead to "corruption cases."
As a major economic province, on June 10, the "Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Supporting Zhejiang's High-quality Development and Building a Demonstration Zone for Common Prosperity" was released, giving Zhejiang an important demonstration and reform task. Provincial example.
The WeChat public account "Tuanjiehu Reference" commented that Zhejiang was identified as a demonstration area for common prosperity this year, which means that Zhejiang, which was once one of the most efficient areas for development, has been given the opportunity to explore new directions in terms of development methods and distribution methods. Important task.
Correspondingly, local cadres are also required to change their thinking and refresh their minds.
But the first step in taking on the heavy responsibility is of course to have a fresh political ecology.
In this sense, the heavier the mission entrusted, the stricter Zhejiang will be scrutinized next.
Zhou Jiangyong once published an article in "Zhejiang Daily" "Identify the focus of deepening the construction of a clean Hangzhou".
In his article, he said that Qing will lead to a long history, and honesty will lead to a long journey. Hangzhou, as the provincial capital, has the responsibility and conditions to go further and deeper in promoting the construction of incorruptibility.
He also mentioned that relying on the establishment of a new type of "pro-" and "Qing" relationship between government and business to promote honesty, clean, and law-abiding operations of enterprises.
After Zhou Jiangyong was investigated, the Hangzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection quickly deployed and carried out a special treatment of prominent issues affecting the pro-Qing political and business relations.
This special governance mainly focuses on three aspects: self-examination and self-correction of matters concerning conflicts of interest prevention by leading cadres, “look back” on the special governance of illegal borrowing by leading cadres, and standardizing the behavior of leading cadres’ spouses, children and spouses in business-run enterprises, covering all current and recent work City management leading cadre who has retired and resigned in the past 3 years.
All units throughout the city simultaneously carried out self-examination and self-correction by management leaders at the same level.
Mao Zhaohui told China News Weekly that many officials in Zhejiang have been investigated, which further shows that there is no restricted area for anti-corruption, and there are no so-called special areas or special provinces.
After the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the anti-corruption strategy has also been adjusted, and more attention has been paid to building a good political-business relationship through anti-corruption.
"After Zhou Jiangyong was investigated, Hangzhou quickly launched a special treatment of prominent issues affecting the pro-Qing political and business relations, or that there was a corruption problem involving political and business collusion in Zhou. Especially businessmen involved in the Internet, finance and other fields have accumulated sufficient economic strength. I also want to find agents in politics. This kind of political-business collusion is more potentially destructive to the political ecology."
Zhuang Deshui said that the details of the corruption of a number of Chinese officials have yet to be disclosed.
But some clues can be seen from this, that is, the economic and political issues are intertwined. The corruption of these middle-management cadres often has a long incubation period, and there are problems of collusion between the government and business, the transfer of interests, and the support of the mountain.
He pointed out that facts have proved that in which areas reforms encounter resistance and which areas have deviations in the implementation of policies often indicate that some of the corruption factors behind them are at work.
Only by eliminating corruption factors can obstacles be cleared for the next step of reform.
The peak period of anti-corruption before the change of term
Relevant reports show that among the central management cadres investigated, they have mentioned violations of the party's political discipline.
For example, Liu Xinyun “participates in gangs within the party, makes'political liars', and is keen on political speculation”, Wang Fuyu “is not loyal to the party, dishonest, violates the law, engages in double-facedness, is a double-faced person,” and Peng Bo “departs from the Party Central Committee’s Launching the decision-making and deployment of online public opinion struggles, Song Liang, “using his powers to exchange interests, gain political capital, be disloyal to the party and be honest, and oppose organizational censorship”, etc.
Zhou Jiangyong was investigated for a short period of time, and his related notification has not yet been announced.
But judging from Zhejiang's quick statement, it also involves political issues.
On August 21, the day of the investigation, the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee held a meeting overnight and emphasized that "people with political and integrity problems must not be fooled or speculatively successful."
Mao Zhaohui said that from the recent reports of the officials under investigation, some officials are suspected of buying and selling, or running as officials, indicating that some officials want to use opportunistic opportunities for promotion during their official careers.
Investigating such officials also serves the purpose of warning officials with similar ideas.
Zhuang Deshui said that in light of past anti-corruption data, there are often several anti-corruption peaks before the change of the central government.
Next year is the year of the change of the central government, and this year is the year of the change of the local governments. At this critical point, intensive investigation and punishment of those leading cadres who have flaws, violations of disciplines and regulations, and who cannot withstand the political test, can also ensure that there is a clear climate when the cadres are changed. An upright atmosphere.
Increasing anti-corruption efforts is a major purification of party members and leading cadres. Through self-renewal, not only can the party team become more pure and pure, but it can also pave the way for the smooth convening of the 20th National Congress next year.
Mao Zhaohui stated that the fundamental purpose of anti-corruption is to form an effective mechanism that "does not dare to corrupt, cannot corrupt, and does not want to corrupt". According to recent investigations of officials from multiple fields and provinces, it shows that these three goals have not been fully achieved, so the anti-corruption The current situation of the struggle is still very serious. The fight against corruption is always on the way, and there must be no slack.
China News Weekly, Issue 32, 2021
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