Graft busters emerge from the shadows
Print Edition
THE once secretive anti-graft agency of the Communist Party of China has started to walk in the Internet sunlight, playing a starring role in China’s war on corruption.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC has become a major font of information since an official website came online last September.
Details of 32 cases of official corruption have been published there, including those of former vice Party chief of Sichuan Province Li Chuncheng and the former head of the state-owned assets commission Jiang Jiemin.
The site is also a vital platform for the public to report perceived wrongdoings — with 74,049 reports in the past eight months.
The website was proposed by commission head Wang Qishan and demonstrates how to tip-off the CCDI through simple diagrams that make it easy for whistleblowers.
Sensitive issue
Corruption was once regarded as a sensitive issue and the anti-corruption force was cloaked in secrecy with no channels for public contact.
To reinvigorate both the work and image of the inspectorate, an online forum was created. Some 5,000 pieces of feedback were offered within days after the CCDI asked for views on the anti-graft drive.
“Sunshine is the best sanitizer and openness the best fortress against graft,” said netizen “Weilewodezuguo” on the site.
“Corruption is not a Party matter; it is important to the whole of society,” said Xin Ming of the Party School of the Central Committee of CPC. The Party is trying to draw on public strength and give the people another channel to make their voice heard, added Xin.
While acknowledging the role of the website in fighting graft, Xin also stressed the importance of all kinds of online whistleblowing.
Main battlefield
“The CCDI website is the main battlefield but it can’t replace the whole Internet,” he said, referring to online exposure on various forms on social media.
Before the establishment of the CCDI website, several officials had been felled by online whistleblowers.
Liu Tienan, former deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, was probed after a journalist disclosed suspicions online.
Meanwhile, Yang Dacai, former head of Shaanxi provincial work safety administration, first appeared in the public eye after netizens posted a photograph of him smiling at the scene of a fatal road accident.
Web users then uncovered pictures of him wearing a range of luxury watches, raising suspicions.
However, experts also warn of problems brought about by mischief-makers.
“Rather than providing concrete information, some use the channel as an emotional release which may disrupt the drive against corruption,” said Zhang Shaolong of the CCDI.
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