Watchdogs taking down black sheep

Intensified efforts show disciplinary bodies are dedicated to self-reform

Discipline inspection and supervision departments have intensified self-reform efforts to weed out black sheep and guarantee full and strict governance over the Party, with 2,482 of their officials investigated in the first half of this year, the departments said.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the National Commission of Supervision, China's top anti-graft bodies, released statistics regarding the inspection and investigation of officials from the departments from January to June to promote the full and strict governance of the Party.

Some 1,647 officials from the discipline inspection and supervision departments were punished, and 73 were transferred to judicial organs for further investigation. Among them, 54 were at the departmental level and 285 were at the county or division level.

Anti-graft authorities across the country handled some 18,700 tips related to officials from discipline inspection and supervision departments and carried out cautionary talks and oral or written inquiries 6,647 times. Additionally, about 11,300 officials from the departments who were found to have engaged in minor misconduct were warned.

An article published on the website of the CCDI and NCS said that releasing the statistics demonstrates the determination of the discipline inspection and supervision organs to take self-reform measures to strictly clean up their departments and eliminate black sheep.

Discipline inspection and supervision organs are the Party's "disciplinary forces" and play a vital role in promoting full and strict Party governance. Yet problems such as lax governance and disciplinary officials engaging in misconduct or violating disciplines and laws persist, it said.

The article said that the statistics once again show that discipline inspection and supervision officials are not immune to corruption and must accept the strictest constraints and supervision.

Discipline inspection and supervision organs must tighten their management and resolutely investigate and punish anti-graft officials who have violated disciplines and laws, and work to prevent such behavior in others by taking decisive action, it said.

In February, the CCDI and NCS launched a nationwide rectification and education campaign targeting anti-graft officials who were involved in misconduct or violated Party disciplines and laws.

In May, the Shanxi Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection said that Zhou Peibin, former head of a provincial inspection team stationed in the province's public security department, had been placed under investigation on suspicion of seriously violating disciplines and laws. Zhou retired in November 2018.

In another case, the CCDI and NCS announced in June that Liu Ran, deputy director at an inspection office of the CCDI and NCS, was expelled from the Party and dismissed from public office for similar allegations, and that his case had been transferred to procuratorial organs for review and prosecution. Liu had worked at the CCDI for many years.

Zhuang Deshui, deputy head of the Research Center of Public Policy at Peking University, said that anti-graft departments released information about such cases to highlight the "zero tolerance" of corruption in the discipline inspection and supervision departments.

"Judging from the anti-graft practice, some officials from discipline inspection and supervision departments still have violations of Party disciplines and law, and the task of preventing internal corruption of discipline inspection and supervision departments is still heavy," he said.

As supervisors, they must be subject to stricter supervision than other officials so they can properly carry out anti-corruption work, he said.

The discipline inspection and supervision organs strive to purify their departments through educational rectification methods. Other black sheep are expected to be weeded out as efforts intensify, Zhuang said.