Graft risks rise as retirement approaches
Print Edition
Public officials in their late 50s are the most likely to be tainted by corruption as they near retirement, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
By December last year, China’s top disciplinary watchdog had disclosed details of 123 disgraced officials in government departments or state-owned companies — more than half of them were aged between 51 and 60.
Li Dongsheng, former vice minister of public security, was investigated for suspected serious violations last December when he was 58. The State Council said yesterday that he had been removed from office.
Also last December, the then 59-year-old Chen Anzhong, former deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Jiangxi Provincial People’s Congress, was investigated. Ni Fake, also 59, the former Anhui deputy governor, was investigated last June.
“When they are close to retirement, the moment meaning they don’t have power any longer, some government officials want to seize the chance to reap some profits,” said Tian He, editor of “The Blue Book on the Rule of Law.”
Tian suggested raising pensions and setting up effective mechanisms to curb corruption before retirement, the Legal Evening News reported.
President Xi Jinping has called corruption a serious threat to the ruling Party’s survival and the country’s anti-corruption campaign is ongoing.
Enforcement loopholes
Since January, 79 public officers have either been punished or investigated. They included Ji Jianye, former Nanjing mayor, and Ji Wenlin, former deputy governor of Hainan Province.
The report pointed out loopholes in law enforcement over shady ties between rich businessmen and government officials. One solution was to have their financial statements published, Tian said.
The report evaluated courts around the country for judicial transparency, but gave pass marks to just 15 out of 81.
Shanghai Higher People’s Court ranked top while the Supreme People’s Court was ranked 21st.
Some courts still thought publishing cases involving groups of protesters would affect social stability. However, the report said that details of cases should be published to avoid rumors spreading.
Levels of openness in 55 government departments, led by the State Council, were also assessed. But only six got more than 60 marks out of a possible 100, and the top department, the Ministry of Education, scored just 65.08, followed by the State Administration of Work Safety and the National Development and Reform Commission.
The other three in the top six were the Ministry of Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the Civil Aviation Administration.
The National Railway Administration got zero marks because the report said no relevant statistics could be traced. The State Bureau for Letters and Calls, the highest petitioning body, was second bottom with 19.95.
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