Edition: English | 中文简体 | 中文繁体 Монгол
Homepage > China Video

Sub-anchor: New channels for supervising government and reporting corruption

CCTV.com

10-26-2016 12:49 BJT

Full coverage: The Sixth Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee

The Communist Party of China Central Committee is holding an important plenary session. Over the course of 4 days, nearly 400 members will discuss changes to the party's structure. They will also focus on improving the country's anti-corruption campaign.

For more, I am joined by Han Peng, who has been following this issue. And Mr. Mo Jihong,Vice President of the International Association of Constitutional Law.

Han Peng, Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013, what new channels have opened up for supervising the government and reporting corruption?

In the past, if you were an ordinary citizen, the only channel you had to report corruption to was the local court, or to deliver a petition to a higher level of government department. But because local courts are prone to influence by local governments, corrupt officials might be able to find ways to cover up their violations, and they can also try to block you from petitioning. But since Xi Jinping took office in 2013, at least two new channels have opened. The first is by reporting directly to the Communist Party's Disciplinary Commission on their website. The website was launched in 2013, and now, it has over 3 million visitors EVERY DAY. Once you report, the Commission is obliged to respond within a few days, and will protect the whistleblower's identity. So it can be said that with just a computer or a mobile phone, anyone is able to report anything on any official, as long as there is convincing evidence. The second new option is social media -- by uploading evidence of corruption for the public to see. In one of the most high-profile cases, the party chief of Chongqing's Beipei District, Lei Zhengfu, was removed from his position just 60 hours after his sex tape got circulated on Weibo, China's version of Twitter. In the past, such information might be censored, but now, the authorities use such information as clues to spot corruption, and launch investigations accordingly. Lei was sentenced to 13 years the following year for taking bribes. Many say these two channels are mobilizing the whole public to take part in the fight against corruption.

What has the Party done inside the government to fight corruption?

One of the most feared operations for many corrupt officials is the dispatching of inspection teams to various levels of government and state-owned enterprises. These inspectors are from the Communist Party's Central Disciplinary Commission, and they conduct financial auditing and speak directly to the staff to find clues of corruption. And the scope of their inspection keeps doubling every year. In 2013, 20 government departments and SOEs were inspected. And it rose to 40 in 2014 and over 80 in 2015.  So far, the Commission says over a million people have been punished over the past four years for violating Party discipline or laws. And the Commission is also fighting corruption within itself. It says that over 3,000 officials from the Commission have been punished since 2012.

Follow us on

  • Please scan the QR Code to follow us on Instagram

  • Please scan the QR Code to follow us on Wechat