Beijing: As he prepares for an unprecedented third term in power, President Xi Jinping has said that “serious potential dangers” to China, the ruling Communist Party and the country’s military have been “rooted out” during his decade-long tenure.
Since he took over the party in 2012, more than a million officials, including over 50 top military officials, were punished for corruption in a massive campaign. His critics allege that he successfully made use of the anti-graft campaign to consolidate his power.
“Certain unhealthy tendencies that hadn’t been curbed for a long time have been reined in, many problems that had long plagued us have been remedied, and serious potential dangers in the Party, the country and the military have been rooted out,” Xi told Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the CCDI revealed more than 44,000 cases involving bureaucratism and another 47,000 cases of hedonism and extravagance were investigated from January to November 2021.
The same period also saw the investigation of 137,000 cases of corruption that occurred on the people’s doorsteps.
Continuous efforts must be made to address corruption and misconduct that affect people’s immediate interests, to let people feel fairness and justice, Xi said, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Xi, 68, said during his tenure the problem of lax and weak governance over party organisations has been addressed at the fundamental level, and a successful path to breaking the historical cycle of rise and fall has been blazed through the party’s self-reform.
He said that political supervision should be strengthened to ensure implementation of the new development philosophy, calling for maintaining political resolve in fighting corruption and realising the strategic goal of not daring to, not being able to and not wanting to be corrupt.
Noting formalism and bureaucratism are the great enemies of the development of the party and the country, Xi called for efforts to resolutely fight against undesirable work styles such as formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance, and strictly comply with the central Party leadership.
His comments came as, unlike his predecessors, Xi is expected to continue to head the CPC, the military and the Presidency for yet another five-year term.
The 2nd five-year term of Xi as the General Secretary of the CPC will end this year.
He is widely expected to continue in the post for an unprecedented third term and perhaps for life after the once-in-a-five-year CPC congress scheduled to be held in the middle of this year expects to endorse his continuation.
A key constitutional amendment in 2018 removed the two-term limit for the President to enable Xi to continue in the post.
Separately, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday rebutted criticism that China pressured members of the families of 10,000 fugitives to return from abroad.
Asked about the human rights group Safeguard Defenders’ allegation that China has relied on coercion, including kidnapping and pressuring families, to force some 10,000 fugitives to return from overseas, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told the media briefing that fighting against corruption is a “just cause”.
“This is a just cause that has won full support from the Chinese people and wide praise from the international community”, he said.
“In pursuing fugitives and recovering stolen assets, China’s judicial and law-enforcement authorities strictly abide by international rules, fully respect the judicial sovereignty of other countries”, he said.
PTI