Higher profile for anti-corruption watchdogs as China’s graft-busters rise up the rungs of power
The man taking over from anti-corruption tsar Wang Qishan reaches the Communist Party’s inner circle while his deputies advance up the political ladder
China’s anti-graft tsar may be on the way out but the Communist Party’s discipline watchdog is expected to have a bigger role, with its new chief gaining a seat in the innermost circle of power.
The changes in the party’s leadership line-up will also pave the way for institutionalisation of President Xi Jinping’s anti-graft drive, further blurring the line between the party and the state.
Among the seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee introduced to the public on Wednesday was Zhao Leji, the man set to take over from Wang as head of the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).
Supervision Minister Yang Xiaodu, one of Zhao’s eight deputies at the CCDI, was also elevated to the 25-member Politburo, a position neither of his two immediate predecessors attained in the position.
Three other Zhao deputies are one rung lower, becoming full members of the Central Committee. Those three are: Lieutenant General Zhang Shengmin, the top graft-buster with the People’s Liberation Army and a member of the Central Military Commission; Liu Jinguo, the man tipped to be the next supervision minister; and Justice Minister Zhang Jun.
