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Net closing on fugitive officials hiding overseas
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With the top anti-graft organ establishing supervisors in the offices of central authorities, and the launch of a campaign to capture fugitive officials abroad, China is leaving corruption no place to hide.
The Communist Party of China鈥檚 (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said on Tuesday that it has established resident offices in four Party central organs, as well as the country鈥檚 parliament, top political advisory body and the cabinet.
Wednesday saw the launch of the cross-department 鈥淪ky Net鈥 operation to capture corrupt cadres who have fled abroad. Considered more comprehensive than last year鈥檚 鈥淔ox Hunt鈥 campaign, this initiative will also focus on counterfeit certificates, underground banks and misappropriated assets.
In addition, central authorities have also strengthened anti-graft efforts in state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
According to the CCDI, resident supervisors have set up shop in the CPC Central Committee鈥檚 General Office, Organization Department, Publicity Department and United Front Work Department.
Similar branches were also set up in the top legislature, top political advisory body and the General Office of the State Council. Resident offices have for some time allowed disciplinary organs to supervise departments, public-sponsored institutions and SOEs.
They are responsible for disciplinary inspections, pressing implementation of Party discipline and tracing accountability.
This is the first time they have been established in the three top state organs and the four Party organs. Professor Xie Chuntao with the Party School of the CPC Central Committee described the move as 鈥渉istorically significant.鈥
High-profile cases
The central Party and government authorities are organs of supreme power and the main center of the country鈥檚 governance system. The CCDI鈥檚 deputy secretary said in December, following the decision to establish these offices, that graft within these organs has had a very negative impact, so it is 鈥渋mperative鈥 to strengthen supervision over them.
A number of very senior officials in Party and central state authorities have been felled for corruption in recent years, most notably Zhou Yongkang, and Ling Jihua, who both held posts in top organs. Despite these successes, some doubted how effective a subordinate body could really be in supervising a superior organ. In response, Xie said that supervision offices are directly managed by the CCDI, the authority of which cannot be challenged. Compared to the 鈥淔ox Hunt 2014鈥 Operation launched by the Ministry of Public Security, 鈥淪ky Net鈥 is a more coordinated move. It involves other departments, including the Supreme People鈥檚 Procuratorate, the central bank, and the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.
Gao Bo, deputy secretary-general of the Clean Government Studies Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said China鈥檚 anti-graft work overseas made great progress last year, with more cross-border cooperation and the Anti-Corruption Declaration signed during APEC meetings in 2014.
International cooperation
International joint work in this field is indeed snowballing. CCDI secretary Wang Qishan told a visiting Russian delegation last week that China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Russia to fight corruption. Despite an absence of an extradition treaty between Beijing and Washington, there are positive signs that the United States will help.
The US State Department said last month that China had agreed to supply 鈥渕ore evidence regarding their priority fugitive cases, so that we can increase our focus on the location and prosecution or removal of these fugitives.鈥
鈥淪ky Net鈥 will target underground banks transferring illegally-gained money abroad, while officials鈥 travel documents will be checked more closely to block corrupt ones from running away.
鈥淲ith more pressure on corruption in China, more corrupt officials will run away. It鈥檚 a natural response,鈥 said Li Yongzhong, an anti-graft observer. 鈥淐apturing fugitive officials will shore up confidence in anti-graft work.鈥
In March, China鈥檚 business circle was struck by the fall of two leaders of giant SOEs. Graft investigations were announced into Xu Jianyi, chairman of top automaker FAW Group, and Liao Yongyuan, general manager of China鈥檚 biggest oil producer, China National Petroleum Corporation.
The fall of the two moguls came after China鈥檚 strengthened supervision to SOEs since the beginning of this year. At a key meeting in January, the CCDI said SOEs are no exception in strengthened governance of the Party.
The anti-corruption drive will not affect the development of SOEs; instead, it can improve them by eliminating conservative groups and outdated practices, thereby protecting state-owned assets and helping build modern corporate governance, said Gao Bo.
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