Asahi Shimbun:
My question is for Mr. Yang. What will be the focus of the fight against corrupthigh officials after the 19th CPC National Congress? In addition, what kind of changes will the establishment of the National Supervisory Committee bring to the work of the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection next year? Thank you.
Yang Xiaodu:
Thank you. After the 19th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection will still target corrupt high officials who have not restrained themselves since the 18thCongress, are frequently reported by citizens for misconduct, and now occupy important positions with potential promotional opportunities. Our primary target will be anyone who meets these criteria or is suspected of political and financial corruption.
The CPC takes serving the people wholeheartedly as its purpose and safeguarding the fundamental interests of the people as its mission. Corrupt officials undermine the people's interests and go counter to the nature and purpose of the Party. They are eroding the very foundation of the Party's governance and must be eliminated.
Deepening reform of the national supervision system and establishing a national supervisory commission is a major political decision made by the CPC Central Committee. It aims to strengthen the Party's centralized and unified leadership of the fight against corruption, put in place an authoritative and efficient national supervision system with complete coverage under the Party's unified command, and promote the modernization of China's system and capacity for governance.
Under the leadership of the CPC committees, supervisory commissions share office spaces and work together with the Party's disciplinary inspection commissions. This is an embodiment of the organic unity of intra-party oversight and oversight by state organs, of the Party's disciplinary inspection and national supervision, and of law-based governance of the country and rule-based governance of the Party. In this way, anti-corruption forces will now be concentrated in shared office spaces and the scope of this drive will be expanded. The Party's disciplinary inspection commissions and supervisory commissions will assume more responsibilities and our work will be more effective. Thank you.
Phoenix Satellite TV and ifeng.com:
My question is about the supervision of senior officials. Sun Zhengcai, Wang Min, Su Rong and Zhou Benshun were prosecuted on corruption charge. However, they were still promoted before their investigations. I wonder if there exists any blind spot in the supervision of senior officials?
Yang Xiaodu:
Thank you for the question, which is a good one. Indeed, for some time, the self-governance of the Party was somewhat lax and weak, giving an opportunity to corrupt officials, like Sun Zhengcai, Su Rong, Wang Min and Zhou Benshun, to perpetuate evil without being punished. However, the Party never shies away from admitting its mistakes. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has been fully committed to ensuring full and strict governance of the Party to improve the conduct of members, promote integrity and fight corruption. We have done our utmost to ensure no "tigers" and "flies" can escape punishment now, that no zones will remain unchecked, and that no loopholes have been left unfixed. We have captured many corrupt officials and punished them.
As I just said, the disciplinary authorities have investigated 440 Party members in leadership positions at and above the provincial and army commander level and other leading Party officials under Party Central Committee management. They accounted for a rather large proportion of total officials punished. We did so to correct the errors we had previously made. Besides, as Mr. Qi just said, we have put great energy into assessing the qualifications of delegates to the Party's 19th National Congress. In my opinion, these moves have made it much more difficult for any official to seek personal gain through illegal acts. Of course, I cannot promise you that we have captured all the miscreants, but I'm sure that nobody can live the sort of life they enjoyed in the past.
Over the past five years, our inspections have expanded into full coverage, and contingents of discipline inspection officials have carried out their missions in all aspects. At the same time, an oversight mechanism for officials of the commissions for discipline inspection has been adopted. Every effort is being made to reduce blind spots in intra-Party supervision and to avoid loopholes in daily works.
The regulations on intra-Party supervision passed at the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee highlighted the importance of oversight over the "key few", and laid emphasis on the supervision of leading Party organs and officials, especially, those holding a high rank. When seeking to close any loopholes, we need to strengthen top-down organizational oversight, improve bottom-up democratic oversight and practice peer oversight.
During our inspections, we have kept in contact with a substantial number of people to listen to their comments regarding targeted CPC officials. Once the inspection groups are dispatched, they undertake a clear obligation to listen to the voices of the people and stay close to them in the long run. The CCDI also needs discipline. To impose stringent rules on members, the CCDI established a supervision office to observe the conduct of its members in leadership positions and has increased the powers of its discipline inspection authority with a clear duty to connect with people and listen to what they are saying.
According to the report delivered by Xi Jinping at the opening of the 19th CPC National Congress, we must adhere to the principles of self-governance of the Party and exercise full and rigorous governance over the Party.
The newly revised Party Constitution has added the content of political responsibility for governance over the Party in the chapters of the Party organization system, central organizations of the Party, local organizations of the Party, primary-level Party organizations, and Party officials so as to ensure that power is exercised in an institutional cage with strengthened internal oversight.
All these approaches have reflected that our Party has the courage to face problems squarely, solve the problems, and strengthen the Party's ability to purify itself. It also demonstrates our Party's determination and confidence in exploring the approaches to avoid history's cycle of rise and fall.
We firmly believe that, while adhering to the right thought and policy of the Central Committee of the CPC with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, we will certainly more effectively exercise self-governance of the Party and full and rigorous governance over the Party, improve Party conduct and fight corruption, ensure that intraparty political activities are carried out in earnest, further strengthen the Party's advanced nature and purity, and enable our Party to more wholeheartedly serve the people.