South China Morning Post:
Mr. Wu, during Wang Qishan's visit to Jiangsu last year, he mentioned discipline inspection commissions at all levels should also be under supervision of public opinion. My question is: so far, what has been done to realize this? Thank you.
Wu Yuliang:
Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, we have taken a series of measures to strengthen self-discipline following the requirements of General Secretary Xi Jinping. For instance, personnel of discipline inspection commissionsat all levels took the lead to hand in all kinds of membership cards they had accepted as gifts over time, and all those violating the eight-point rulesreceived public exposure. In addition, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the commissions at provincial, autonomous regional and municipal levels have set up supervisory organs for"house cleaning" andtaken resolute steps to ensure a trustworthy disciplinary teamis in place.
Phoenix TV:
The 19th CPC National Congress will convenelater this year and it's been said that the anti-corruption drive wouldbe eased for stability. What's your opinion about that?
Luo Dongchuan:
During the seventh plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Commissionfor Discipline Inspection, General Secretary Xi Jinping observed that crushing momentumagainst graft has taken shape, while the anti-corruption struggle remains serious and complex. Hence, we need to maintain the momentum to eradicate corruption, the lethal"source of pollution," follow the requirements of the CPC Central Committee and win the struggle against corruption, which is of vital importance to the ruling party. Thank you.
People's Daily:
According to thecommuniqués of the plenary sessions of the CCDI in recent years, we've noticed the descriptions about the situation regarding the anti-corruption struggle have changed from a seesaw battle to gaining crushing momentum. Now,crushing momentum has taken shape. My question is: On what grounds do we say the momentum has "taken shape?" Thank you.
Xiao Pei:
During the just-concluded seventh plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Commissionfor Discipline Inspection, General Secretary Xi Jinping said we would rather offend hundreds of corrupt officials than let 1.3 billion Chinese people down. What is this so-called crushing momentum? Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the CCDI has investigated a total of 240 centrally-administered officials, 3.6 times the figure recorded during the period of 2007-2012 (the 17th CPC National Congress was held in 2007). This especially involved handling the cases of severe violations of law and discipline committed by Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, GuoBoxiong, XuCaihou and Ling Jihua. We seriously investigated and punished political and economic corruption intermingled with benefit transmission and eliminated hidden dangers for our Party and country.
Xiao Pei:
Now, please allow me to quote some figures. We managed to achieve a "drop" and a "rise." The "drop" refers to the number of accusatory and prosecutable cases disciplinary authorities have accepted. Compared with 2015, the number of such cases in 2016 was down 17.5 percent. This is also the first time the number dropped since the 18th CPC National Congress. The "rise" refers to the number of Party members investigated and punished. In 2012, there were about 85 million Party members, and we handled about 155,000 disciplinary cases in which about 161,000 Party members were punished. At the end of 2016, the Party had a membership of more than 88 million, and we handled 413,000 disciplinary cases in which 415,000 Party members were punished. With the total number of Party members rising, we have punished more Party members, the number rising from a rate of 1.8 to 4.3 per 1,000 people.
In the vigorous anti-graft campaign in 2016, about 57,000 Party members made confessions to their Party organs. That's crushing momentum.
Therefore, we have achieved great success in running the Party with strict discipline, improving members' conduct and fighting corruption, thus increasing people's confidence and trust in the CPC Central Committeeas well as reliance on it and laying a solid political foundation for the Party's continued rule. That's a significant political achievement made by the 18th CPC Central Committee.