This year's fight against tigers has shown new characteristics. On April 11, the first hundred days of 2022, according to the statistics reported on the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission, a total of 18 central management cadres fell within 100 days, with an average of one tiger every 6 days.
Compared with the data of the same period of the website, from 2018 to 2021, 5, 6, 0 and 9 middle management cadres were investigated in 100 days. Among them, the epidemic in 2020 was raging, and no central management cadres fell in the first 100 days. That is to say, the number of central management cadres who fell in 2022 in 100 days is close to the sum of the same period in 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Why has the frequency of fighting tigers accelerated so much this year, and what kind of signals have been released? The relevant experts interviewed believe that the superposition of multiple factors has led to such an intensive fight against tigers. This is due to the factors exposed by the officials of the change of office year and the factors of the deepening of the anti-corruption struggle. The intensive crackdown on tigers shows the central authorities' determination to punish corruption, and "strictness" will remain the main tone in the future.
It involves 10 provinces in the central and western regions and the northeast
The pace of fighting tigers has accelerated, and the beginning of the year can be seen. In January alone, there were two reports of two tigers fighting on the same day. Throughout January, seven central management cadres were dismissed.
Peng Xinlin, an anti-corruption expert and professor at the Academy of Criminal and Legal Sciences at Beijing Normal University, told China News Weekly that the so-called "opening to see the whole year" may maintain such an intensive rhythm of fighting tigers throughout the year.
However, Dai Yanjun, a professor at the Central Party School, believes that the central government's anti-corruption campaign is consistent, and we cannot look at this year alone. Many problems are long-term and latent, and as the anti-corruption deepens, the results of the anti-corruption campaign continue to emerge. This also has the result of previous efforts.
He told China News Weekly that the anti-corruption campaign cannot be viewed separately, and that the high-ranking officials who have fallen this year may not have been targeted this year, but are likely to have been secretly investigated long ago, and after obtaining solid evidence, they will be officially announced, so as to eliminate the stock of corruption.
The 18 central management cadres who fell from power involved 10 provinces (autonomous regions) of Liaoning, Qinghai, Yunnan, Fujian, Hubei, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Guangxi and Tibet. Among them, Liaoning attracted the most attention, and for more than a month, three vice provincial officials, namely Wang Dawei, vice governor and director of the provincial public security department, Hao Chunrong, vice governor, and Sun Yuanliang, former vice chairman of the provincial CPPCC committee, were investigated.
Peng Xinlin said that although these areas do not belong to the economically developed sector, they are often rich in resources. If there is no establishment of a new type of pro-Qing government-business relationship, or the lack of a business environment based on the rule of law, it is more likely to breed corruption.
"In addition, the corruption behind the business environment is particularly noteworthy, and the business environment in these areas needs to be further optimized compared with the developed areas along the eastern coast." Peng Xinlin said.
Wei Changdong, vice president of the Chinese Society of Criminology and director of the Honest Government and Rule of Law Center of the Institute of Law of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, told China News Weekly that the acceleration of the pace of fighting tigers has once again demonstrated the confidence and determination of the party and the state in fighting corruption, and it is the primary goal to intensify the investigation and handling of old cases and not to allow corrupt vested interests to enjoy the benefits they have seized because of their corrupt behavior.
Behind or involving many department-level officials
The 18 central management cadres who fell from power were involved in local provinces, the political and legal system, and key and key areas such as finance, railways, postal services, supply and marketing, and grain.
From the perspective of local provinces, both incumbent and retired officials are involved. Retired officials include Sun Yuanliang, former vice chairman of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Huang Yi, former vice chairman of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Chen Jiadong, former director of the Standing Committee of the Xiamen Municipal People's Congress in Fujian Province, and Xie Jilai, former deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Hebei Provincial People's Congress. Incumbent officials include Hao Chunrong, vice governor of Liaoning Province, Song Xibin, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Congress, Wang Minghui, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress, Liu Hongwu, vice chairman of the Guangxi Autonomous Region Government, and Zhang Yongze, vice chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Government.
The same is in office, and the situation is also different. For example, Li Jiexiang, member of the Standing Committee of the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress and secretary of the party leading group, fell from power, but he has been working in Inner Mongolia for a long time. Cao Guangjing, vice governor of Hubei Province, worked for the Three Gorges Group for a long time.
In addition, in key and key areas, Sheng Guangzu, Li Guohua and Xu Baoyi have served in railway, postal, supply and marketing and food systems for a long time, and Wang Bin has been deeply involved in the financial field for decades. Sheng Guangzu was the general manager of China Railway Corporation, Xu Baoyi was the deputy general manager of China Grain Storage Management Group, Li Guohua was the former general manager of China Unicom, and Wang Bin was the party secretary of Chinese Life Insurance (Group).
Two heavyweights in the political and legal field have also been investigated, namely Liu Yanping and Shen Deyong. Liu Yanping served as vice minister of public security, secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Ministry of State Security, and head of the discipline inspection and supervision team of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission and the State Supervision Commission in the Ministry of State Security. Shen Deyong has served in the SPC for a long time and was the executive vice president.
In mid-January this year, the official communiqué of the sixth plenary session of the 19th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection was officially released. The above-mentioned fallen personnel overlap with the key areas of the Central Discipline Inspection Commission's anti-corruption campaign. When reviewing the discipline inspection and supervision work in 2021, the communiqué mentioned that "resolutely investigate and deal with major corruption cases, seriously investigate and deal with corruption cases in which political and economic issues are intertwined, and increase the anti-corruption efforts in state-owned enterprises, finance, political and legal affairs, grain purchase and sales, and development zone construction."
It is worth noting that in August last year, Zhou Jiangyong, a member of the Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and secretary of the Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee, fell from power. He is intertwined with political and economic issues, "colluding with capital, supporting the disorderly expansion of capital", and "engaging in family corruption".
Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of the Public Policy Research Center and the Research Center for Integrity Construction of Peking University, said for example, such as Liu Yanping and Shen Deyong, which is actually related to the background of political and legal rectification.
He told China News Weekly that the fall of provincial and ministerial-level officials is actually on the "water surface", which everyone can see. In fact, there are more department- and bureau-level officials, and in practice, a provincial- and ministerial-level official often involves many departmental-level officials.
What is the anti-corruption situation in the future?
18 central management cadres fell within 100 days, what is the next road to anti-corruption?
Peng Xinlin believes that the beginning looks at the whole year, and this year and after that, the main tone of Yan will continue to be adhered to for a long time. In addition, the Sixth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Committee scientifically summed up the historical experience of the party's century-old struggle, and "persisting in self-revolution" is one of them, and comprehensively and strictly administering the party and deepening the anti-corruption struggle is the great practice of the party's self-revolution in the new era.
Zhu Lijia, a professor at the Central Party School (National School of Administration), also believes that the anti-corruption posture will maintain a strict main tone and the anti-corruption efforts will become stronger and stronger.
The communiqué of the Sixth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Discipline Inspection Commission mentioned that it is necessary to resolutely eliminate the stock, curb the increase, and integrate the rectification of discipline and the fight against corruption with the deepening of reform, the improvement of the system, and the promotion of governance.
The communique also mentioned that it is necessary to promote the concretization and normalization of political supervision, keep a close eye on the "key minority," and strengthen supervision over the implementation of the responsibility of comprehensively and strictly administering the party by the "number one" and the leading body, implementing the democratic centralism system, and performing their duties and using power in accordance with laws and regulations.
Peng Xinlin held that at the Sixth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth Central Discipline Inspection Commission this year, the central leaders explicitly mentioned that "we must persist in fighting corruption and punishing evil with thunderous momentum, and fight a tough and protracted battle of self-revolution." The fall of many high-ranking officials reflects the "thunderous momentum" of anti-corruption.
The Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China will be held this year, and the communiqué mentions that the discipline of the change of office should be strictly enforced, and the political and honest customs should be strictly controlled.
With regard to this year's anti-corruption focus, the communiqué mentions that there is no mercy on those who engage in political gangs, small circles, and interest groups within the party, and efforts are made to investigate and deal with corrupt behaviors behind the disorderly expansion of capital and platform monopoly, and to cut off the link between power and capital. At the same time, we will resolutely investigate and deal with corruption in infrastructure construction and public resource transactions, continue to promote corruption governance in the financial sector, deepen the anti-corruption work of state-owned enterprises, and deepen the special rectification of corruption in the fields of grain purchase and sales.
Peng Xinlin said that most of the above-mentioned officials investigated are key areas and key links, such as grain, insurance, and communications. The "cancer" in these areas will be further cleaned up.
Wei Changdong proposed that while intensifying the efforts to clean up old cases of corruption, it is necessary to optimize and strengthen the construction of preventive mechanisms. It is necessary to take the promotion of public employees and the organs exercising the power of examination and supervision as the focus of the norms, and take the most effective measures to avoid promotion with illness.
At present, anti-corruption is advancing in depth. Dai Yanjun said: The essence of the so-called in-depth advancement is to solve three problems -- deep-seated problems, institutional problems, and source problems. For example, some corrupt elements may be corrupt for up to one or two decades, so why they can be promoted many times during this period shows that the cadre selection system is not perfect enough. In addition, the long-standing problems of formalism and bureaucracy should be solved from all aspects of system and ideology.
Source: China News Weekly