Crackdown on graft in university management gathering steam

China has intensified the fight against corruption and improved inspection of university management to promote reform of the university discipline inspection and supervision system.

On Thursday, the People's Procuratorate of Liaoning province ordered the arrest of Yu Zhigang, former vice-president of the China University of Political Science and Law, for suspected bribe-taking. Yu's case was transferred to procuratorial authorities for review and prosecution following the conclusion of an investigation by the National Supervisory Commission, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said in a statement issued on Thursday.

Yu has been expelled from the Communist Party of China and removed from public office for serious violations of Party discipline and national laws.

Liu Chuansheng, former Party chief of Beijing Normal University, turned herself in to the central inspection group on July 8, according to a statement issued by Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission.

The ongoing inspection was launched in late April. According to a list posted on the CCDI's website, subjects include the Ministry of Education and the Party committees of 31 universities under central administration, including Beijing Normal University.

Liu, 71, served as Beijing Normal University's Party chief from June 2005 to November 2016, when she retired. She is under investigation on suspicion of serious violations of Party discipline and national laws, the statement said.

In another statement, the commissions said that Tian Jun, deputy Party chief of Kunming University of Science and Technology in Yunnan province, gave himself up to the Yunnan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission. The 59-year-old became deputy Party chief of the university in 2016 and is also under investigation for serious violations.

The main reason for the frequent problems involving university leaders lies in the centralization of power and the lack of effective supervision, said Ji Naili, a professor of anti-corruption studies at the Zhou Enlai School of Government at Nankai University.

"The campus is where people are educated," he said. "Corruption in universities could seriously hinder the formation of professionals and affect the development of universities, and even science and technology in the country."

Ji said corruption among university leaders mostly occurs in areas like the building of infrastructure, enrollment and promotions. The corruption is hidden and known to only a few stakeholders, which makes it more difficult to investigate.

"Heavy-handed anti-corruption campaigns have mainly targeted officials in the past, neglecting universities," he said. "The central government's efforts to strengthen the fight against corruption in universities calls for the revision of the traditional understanding of anti-corruption measures."

China has stepped up efforts to fight university corruption in recent years. In October 2018, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee issued a document on deepening reform of the agencies accredited by the CCDI and the National Supervisory Commission, marking the beginning of university discipline inspection system reform, and placing university Party chiefs and presidents under central administration.

By October last year, the evaluation of the heads of discipline inspection commissions at 31 universities under central administration had been concluded by the CCDI and government departments.

A CCDI conference in January called for deepening reform of the university discipline inspection and supervision system, and the effective promotion of full intra-Party and State supervision.

The conference also called for the strengthening of guidance for provincial-level discipline inspection and supervisory commissions that send inspection teams to colleges and universities under provincial administration.

In May, the CCDI said that discipline inspection commissions in centrally administered universities had repeatedly pushed forward reform, handled violations of Party discipline related to violators' duties, powers and working procedures, and improved supervision initiatives.

Xiamen University in Fujian province, one of the 31 universities under central administration, is promoting an internal supervision system and has carried out anti-corruption risk inspections in all its 82 departments, according to the CCDI's website.

In addition, it established anti-corruption files on 362 mid-level officials. By May, the university's discipline inspection commission had conducted interviews with 56 cadres and handed out disciplinary punishment to 20 people.