China promises to maintain pressure on corrupt officials
Print Edition
CHINA is fully committed to its nationwide anti-corruption drive and will maintain “high pressure” on all those suspected of graft, its top judicial officials said yesterday.
A total of 22 ex-officials at ministerial level or above, including former leader Zhou Yongkang, were prosecuted last year, while 41 were subjected to formal investigations, up from 28 in 2014, Procurator-General Cao Jianming told lawmakers while presenting the Supreme People’s Procuratorate’s work report for 2015.
Chief Justice Zhou Qiang added that Zhou Yongkang and 15 other senior officials had been put on trial, showcasing “the Party and the country’s resolute determination to crack down on corruption.”
More than three years into a campaign that targets both “tigers” and “flies” — the words assigned to different officials depending on their rank and level of corruption — there is little sign of it losing momentum.
Earlier this month, the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection announced an investigation into Wang Min, vice chairman of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People’s Congress, for suspected violation of Party codes of conduct.
According to the SPP work report, almost 80 former officials at ministerial level or above had been investigated in the three years between 2013 and 2015.
“We will continue to maintain high pressure on corruption,” Chief Justice Zhou said.
A total of 54,249 officials were investigated last year for their involvement in 40,834 graft cases, Cao said.
The figures represent a slight drop from the previous year, when 55,101 officials were probed in 41,487 cases.
Of the officials investigated last year, 4,568 were of division level and above, while 769 were prefecture level or above.
On the “tigers” end, prosecutors looked into 4,490 graft, bribery and embezzlement cases, each involving more than 1 million yuan (US$154,000), Cao said.
About 13,000 officials were investigated and punished for accepting bribes, while more than 8,200 were probed for offering bribes.
On the “flies” side, more than 20,500 grassroots officials from the agricultural sector as well as land acquisition, social insurance, education and medicare services were investigated and punished, Cao said.
The two officials pledged that more will be done to weed out graft in the judiciary.
Last year, 2,424 judicial staff were investigated and punished for graft, Cao said, while Zhou promised “zero tolerance” for judicial corruption.
“We will forge an effective anti-graft mechanism in which officials dare not, cannot and will not be corrupted,” Cao told lawmakers.
“Power shall be locked in the cage of regulations.”
With the space for corruption and power abuse narrowing at home, China is now looking to expand international cooperation in apprehending fugitives who have fled overseas.
Chinese authorities last year repatriated 124 corruption suspects from 34 countries and regions, while 17 of the 100 wanted fugitives listed on an Interpol “red notice” were also netted, Cao said.
China will step up its cooperation with other countries and regions to bring those still at large to justice, he said.
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