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| Can Xi Jinping’s corruption battle in China place the people above the Communist Party? Chi Wang says while the Chinese president’s sweeping anti-graft campaign has already felled over a million tigers and flies, the real long-term test is to root out the culture of corruption, updating people’s values to those that befit a more prosperous nation PUBLISHED : Saturday, 23 December, 2017, 11:48am UPDATED : Saturday, 23 December, 2017, 7:16pm President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has been a topic of discussion since it was initiated five years ago. In his 19th party congress speech, laying out his goals for the Communist Party and for China as a whole, Xi renewed his pledge to tackle graft.The danger corruption poses for the ruling leadership is clear from looking at China’s history. In imperial China, a dynasty would form under the mandate of heaven, then grow and prosper. Over successive generations of rulers, however, corruption would take root, and the people would lose faith in their ruler, calling the mandate of heaven into question. Ultimately, one dynasty would decline and a new one would rise in its place. The dynastic cycle has seemingly outlived imperial China. The 1912-1949 Republic of China was also beset by corruption. Mao Zedong’s highlighting of the corruption among Kuomintang leaders helped the Communists, with proletariat values and grass roots origins, win the civil war … for more, go to http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2125369/can-xi-jinpings-corruption-battle-china-place-people-above |
China’s fight against graft endless - it's key to success and future
KUALA LUMPUR (January 2018): Administrating a nation of 1.3 billion people is an extremely daunting task but to China, it has surprised the rest of the world for four decades.
The successful economic, education and technology reformation to globalise China did not come easy - its biggest challenge is to check the growth of graft, if not eradicate.
It is still doing so because only corruption will retard China’s growth and future. Unabated graft will destroy any nation.
And China has done it with absolute commitment, without fear or favour to every national, including those who hold high office.
Some have also been given life and death sentences.
Reproduced below are two recent news reports of Chinese generals who have fallen due to graft:
The successful economic, education and technology reformation to globalise China did not come easy - its biggest challenge is to check the growth of graft, if not eradicate.
It is still doing so because only corruption will retard China’s growth and future. Unabated graft will destroy any nation.
And China has done it with absolute commitment, without fear or favour to every national, including those who hold high office.
Some have also been given life and death sentences.
Reproduced below are two recent news reports of Chinese generals who have fallen due to graft:
"Chinese military to prosecute former top general for graft
Fang Fenghui, once the youngest commander of a People’s Liberation Army military region, suspected of taking and giving bribes
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 09 January, 2018, 7:09pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 09 January, 2018, 11:36pm
minnie.chan@scmp.com
窗体底端
State-run news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday that former chief of joint staff Fang Fenghui was suspected of taking and giving bribes and would be handed over to military prosecutors. It gave no further details.
Fang , 66, once the youngest commander of a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military region, was described as an “opportunist” by military insiders.
He is a former member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) and the latest “tiger” to be the target of a graft investigation following the suicide of Zhang Yang, who served alongside him on the commission.
“Fang has close links to Zhang’s superiors and subordinates because they were both protégés of disgraced former CMC vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, with Fang being the most skilful opportunist, closely following Guo,” a source close to the military said.
“The investigation of Fang was announced so late because of the sudden suicide of Zhang. In order to decrease the impact of Zhang’s death to the army’s morale, Fang’s case was put aside a while until now.”
Zhang, a former head of the CMC’s political work department, hanged himself at his Beijing home on November 23, becoming the most senior military officer to commit suicide while under investigation in the anti-graft campaign launched by Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping five years ago.
Another source said Zhang hanged himself just one hour before investigators came to his home to formally detain him.
Military casualties: top Chinese officers to die since the launch of Xi Jinping’s anti-graft drive
Xinhua’s report in November confirmed Zhang had links to Guo and Xu, and was suspected of serious disciplinary violations – a euphemism for corruption.
Guo and Xu were the most senior military officers investigated for buying and selling military ranks and other forms of corruption in the sweeping anti-graft campaign. At least 13,000 military officers involved in corruption had been punished over the past five years, The PLA Daily reported in October.
Guo, 75, was jailed for life in July 2016 and Xu died of cancer at the age of 72 in 2015 while in custody and under investigation for graft.
Xinhua’s report about Zhang’s death said he had been summoned for questioning by the CMC’s disciplinary commission on August 28. At least three sources told the South China Morning Post that Fang was also taken away for questioning on the same day.
But the pair had been released after questioning and had been under house arrest, the sources added.
“Both Fang and Zhang were allowed to return home because they were all heavyweights in the military,” one source said. “But all their close attendants, including drivers and personal secretaries, were replaced.”
In late August, state media reported that Fang had been replaced as chief of joint staff by war hero General Li Zuocheng, while Admiral Miao Hua had taken over Zhang’s political work in the CMC.
In September, Fang and Zhang were omitted from the list of PLA delegates to the party congress published in state media – a hint they were in trouble.
Why Xi Jinping is once again letting China’s military have a direct link to local authorities
Fang, like Guo a Shaanxi native, joined the army in 1968 when only 16.
Military insiders said Guo, who was commander of the Lanzhou Military Region in 1997 and a CMC vice-chairman from 2003 to 2013, had played a significant role in promoting Fang.
Fang was promoted to major general in 1998 when he was a corps commander of the Lanzhou Military Region. He became chief of staff of the Guangzhou Military Region in 2003 and was promoted to lieutenant general two years later.
In 2007 he was appointed commander of the Beijing Military Region, responsible for the defence of the capital. At the time, he was the PLA’s youngest ever regional commander.
As a rising star, Fang was in the limelight as he commanded the parade in 2009 to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive brings down more generals than 20th century warfare
He was made a full general in 2010 and two years later he became chief of general staff and joined the CMC.
When former president Hu Jintao was CMC chairman from 2004 to 2012, Fang was seen as a loyal Hu protégé, but military insiders said they knew he was in Guo and Xu’s camp, which treated Hu as a mere figurehead.
“Both Guo and Xu were proxies of former president Jiang Zemin, with Fang, Zhang and other senior military officers their accomplices,” a Guangzhou-based military source said.
A Beijing-based source close to the PLA said Fang had been an ambitious and capable officer.
“Both Fang and Zhang were not so bad, but they couldn’t help but fall in line with the corrupt officialdom at the time,” he said. “Actually, they were brought down by an internal political struggle ahead of the five-yearly party congress [in October].”
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Ex-PLA general to face trial for graft
Top Chinese general in graft probe commits suicide in Beijing
Zhang Yang suspected of serious disciplinary violations, Xinhua report says
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 28 November, 2017, 12:21pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 November, 2017, 11:40pm
窗体底端
State-run news agency Xinhua reported on Tuesday that former chief of joint staff Fang Fenghui was suspected of taking and giving bribes and would be handed over to military prosecutors. It gave no further details.
Fang , 66, once the youngest commander of a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) military region, was described as an “opportunist” by military insiders.
He is a former member of China’s powerful Central Military Commission (CMC) and the latest “tiger” to be the target of a graft investigation following the suicide of Zhang Yang, who served alongside him on the commission.
“Fang has close links to Zhang’s superiors and subordinates because they were both protégés of disgraced former CMC vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, with Fang being the most skilful opportunist, closely following Guo,” a source close to the military said.
“The investigation of Fang was announced so late because of the sudden suicide of Zhang. In order to decrease the impact of Zhang’s death to the army’s morale, Fang’s case was put aside a while until now.”
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Another source said Zhang hanged himself just one hour before investigators came to his home to formally detain him.
Military casualties: top Chinese officers to die since the launch of Xi Jinping’s anti-graft drive
Xinhua’s report in November confirmed Zhang had links to Guo and Xu, and was suspected of serious disciplinary violations – a euphemism for corruption.
Guo and Xu were the most senior military officers investigated for buying and selling military ranks and other forms of corruption in the sweeping anti-graft campaign. At least 13,000 military officers involved in corruption had been punished over the past five years, The PLA Daily reported in October.
Guo, 75, was jailed for life in July 2016 and Xu died of cancer at the age of 72 in 2015 while in custody and under investigation for graft.
Xinhua’s report about Zhang’s death said he had been summoned for questioning by the CMC’s disciplinary commission on August 28. At least three sources told the South China Morning Post that Fang was also taken away for questioning on the same day.
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“Both Fang and Zhang were allowed to return home because they were all heavyweights in the military,” one source said. “But all their close attendants, including drivers and personal secretaries, were replaced.”
In late August, state media reported that Fang had been replaced as chief of joint staff by war hero General Li Zuocheng, while Admiral Miao Hua had taken over Zhang’s political work in the CMC.
In September, Fang and Zhang were omitted from the list of PLA delegates to the party congress published in state media – a hint they were in trouble.
Why Xi Jinping is once again letting China’s military have a direct link to local authorities
Fang, like Guo a Shaanxi native, joined the army in 1968 when only 16.
Military insiders said Guo, who was commander of the Lanzhou Military Region in 1997 and a CMC vice-chairman from 2003 to 2013, had played a significant role in promoting Fang.
Fang was promoted to major general in 1998 when he was a corps commander of the Lanzhou Military Region. He became chief of staff of the Guangzhou Military Region in 2003 and was promoted to lieutenant general two years later.
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As a rising star, Fang was in the limelight as he commanded the parade in 2009 to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.
Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive brings down more generals than 20th century warfare
He was made a full general in 2010 and two years later he became chief of general staff and joined the CMC.
When former president Hu Jintao was CMC chairman from 2004 to 2012, Fang was seen as a loyal Hu protégé, but military insiders said they knew he was in Guo and Xu’s camp, which treated Hu as a mere figurehead.
“Both Guo and Xu were proxies of former president Jiang Zemin, with Fang, Zhang and other senior military officers their accomplices,” a Guangzhou-based military source said.
A Beijing-based source close to the PLA said Fang had been an ambitious and capable officer.
“Both Fang and Zhang were not so bad, but they couldn’t help but fall in line with the corrupt officialdom at the time,” he said. “Actually, they were brought down by an internal political struggle ahead of the five-yearly party congress [in October].”
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Ex-PLA general to face trial for graft
Top Chinese general in graft probe commits suicide in Beijing
Zhang Yang suspected of serious disciplinary violations, Xinhua report says
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 28 November, 2017, 12:21pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 28 November, 2017, 11:40pm
Minnie Chanminnie.chan@scmp.com
窗体底端
He is the most senior miliary officer to have killed himself during ongoing graft investigations targeting the People’s Liberation Army.
A source close to the former Guangzhou Military Command told the South China Morning Post Zhang, 66, had hanged himself at his home in Beijing on the morning of November 23, and the news of his death had been relayed to all five PLA theatre commands over the past few days.
Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive brings down more generals than 20th century warfare
A Xinhua report confirmed the circumstances of his death. It said Zhang had been linked to former disgraced CMC vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, and was suspected of serious disciplinary violations – a euphemism for corruption.
Guo, 75, a CMC vice-chairman between 2002 and 2012, is serving a life sentence in jail for graft. Xu, a CMC vice-chairman between 2004 and 2012, died of cancer in 2015 at the age of 72 while in custody and under investigation for graft.
Xinhua said an investigation showed Zhang owned “enormous property holdings of unknown origin” – an indication he had taken bribes. It said he had been living at home while under investigation.
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The article said the investigation of Zhang had been part of the Communist Party’s anti-graft work to root out the “harmful influence left by Guo and Xu”. It said Zhang had pretended to be a loyal official, but was a person without a “moral bottom line who severely harmed the party’s image”.
Zhang and another military heavyweight, former chief of general staff General Fang Fenghui, were left off the list of PLA delegates to the party’s national congress in Beijing last month.
Xi Jinping shakes up China’s military leadership … what changes at the top mean for world’s biggest armed forces
In late August, state media reported that Fang’s had been replaced as chief of general staff by war hero General Li Zuocheng, while Admiral Miao Hua had taken over Zhang’s political work in the CMC.
Sources close to the military told the Post earlier that both Zhang and Fang were taken away for questioning over corruption on the same day soon afterwards.
Xinhua’s report of Zhang’s death said he had been summoned for questioning by the CMC on August 28.
Another source, based in Beijing, said Zhang and Fang were brought down by an internal political struggle ahead of the five-yearly party congress.
He said they had been released after questioning but had been under house arrest since then.
The Guangzhou source said there was speculation in military circles that Zhang had given Guo more than 25 million yuan (US$3.7 million) in bribes.
Zhang’s home in Guangzhou, a luxury villa, was searched by military inspectors on Saturday, the Guangzhou source said, adding that they had seized the villa and its contents.
“Zhang’s death may affect other anti-graft inspection work because his case involved many other military officers,” he said. “He may have wanted to use his death to protect friends involved in his case.”
Chinese general reported to be facing corruption probe off military delegation to party congress
Zhang is not the only military heavyweight to have died during the massive anti-graft campaign launched by party general secretary Xi Jinping soon after he became party leader in November 2012.
In 2014, Vice Admiral Ma Faxiang, deputy political commissar of the PLA Navy, leapt from a building at a naval complex in Beijing. Ma’s death came less than three month after Rear Admiral Jiang Zhonghua, from the South Sea Fleet’s armaments department, plunged to his death from a hotel building in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, while being questioned by military disciplinary inspectors.
At least 13,000 military officers have been investigated over the past five years, the PLA Daily reported last month, with Guo and Xu the most senior ones probed for buying and selling military ranks and other forms of corruption.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: PLA general in graft probe kills himself"
The Guangzhou source said there was speculation in military circles that Zhang had given Guo more than 25 million yuan (US$3.7 million) in bribes.
Zhang’s home in Guangzhou, a luxury villa, was searched by military inspectors on Saturday, the Guangzhou source said, adding that they had seized the villa and its contents.
“Zhang’s death may affect other anti-graft inspection work because his case involved many other military officers,” he said. “He may have wanted to use his death to protect friends involved in his case.”
Chinese general reported to be facing corruption probe off military delegation to party congress
Zhang is not the only military heavyweight to have died during the massive anti-graft campaign launched by party general secretary Xi Jinping soon after he became party leader in November 2012.
In 2014, Vice Admiral Ma Faxiang, deputy political commissar of the PLA Navy, leapt from a building at a naval complex in Beijing. Ma’s death came less than three month after Rear Admiral Jiang Zhonghua, from the South Sea Fleet’s armaments department, plunged to his death from a hotel building in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, while being questioned by military disciplinary inspectors.
At least 13,000 military officers have been investigated over the past five years, the PLA Daily reported last month, with Guo and Xu the most senior ones probed for buying and selling military ranks and other forms of corruption.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: PLA general in graft probe kills himself"
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