In ‘core leader’ Xi Jinping’s China, discipline trumps corruption when it comes to reform

Tim Collard says the drive to address popular discontent at abuse of power may have seen big heads roll, but top-down iron discipline can only have a limited effect on corruption in a country too big for constant surveillance

Reading Time:3 minutes

President Xi Jinping (centre), flanked by Premier Li Keqiang (right) and National People’s Congress Standing Committee chairman Zhang Dejiang, leads proceedings at the sixth plenum of the 18th party central committee in Beijing on October 27. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 2:15pm, 1 Nov 2016Updated: 6:08pm, 1 Nov 2016

The two great watchwords of President Xi Jinping’s ( 習近平 ) internal reform programme have been “corruption” and “discipline”. China, and the ruling Communist Party in particular, needs less of the former, more of the latter.

At the beginning, the emphasis was more on addressing widespread popular resentment at abuse of power by officials, often involving demands for bribes.

Former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang hears his life sentence in Tianjin on June 11, 2015. Photo: Reuters

About a million of the party’s 90 million members have been sanctioned for corruption-related offences since Xi took power – 82 officials of deputy ministerial or higher status have been investigated since then, with 28 sentenced and several more still awaiting sentence. Some very prominent heads have rolled, most notably those of Bo Xilai ( 薄熙來 ) and Zhou Yongkang (周永康), demonstrating that high status within the party is no protection against investigation and conviction.

Fallen political star Bo Xilai, a princeling once seen as a contender for national leadership, stands trial for bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power on August 22, 2013, in Jinan, Shandong province, in China’s highest-profile prosecution in decades. Bo was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to life in prison. Photo: AFP

China’s Supreme Court takes aim at disgraced Zhou Yongkang and Bo Xilai

But the problem of corruption has not been solved even by such powerful deterrents. Although no one can be certain of absolute immunity, it is clear that many officials see the chance of being caught as too small to worry about. When major explosions killed more than 170 people at a chemicals warehouse in Tianjin (天津) in August last year, an investigation revealed that safety, licensing and customs procedures had been disregarded: it was not suggested that money had changed hands, but it was clear that officials had not done their jobs properly, possibly due to close contacts – guanxi – with the company management. Over a year later, reports suggest that the recommendations of the subsequent inquiry have not been duly implemented. The Tianjin authorities are clearly not living in great fear of the corruption and discipline agencies.