BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping said the Chinese Communist Party must “turn the knife inward” to root out discipline problems including corruption, a new call to go after corrupt officials and those who corrupt them.
Since coming to power more than a decade ago, Xi has cracked down on corruption involving party members, whether they are high-ranking corrupt “tigers” or lowly “flies” who fail to implement government policies.
But despite the sweeping crackdown, the party still suffers from corruption, especially within the armed forces. Two former defense ministers have been removed from the party in the past two years for “serious breaches of discipline,” a euphemism for corruption.
The party should take countermeasures against any interest group, power organization or privileged class exploiting or corrupting party members, Xi warned in a speech published on Monday by the Chiushi Journal, a leading party magazine.
“As the situation and tasks facing the party change, there will inevitably be all kinds of conflicts and problems within the party,” he said.
“We must have the courage to point the knife inward and eliminate its negative influence in time to ensure that the party is always full of vitality and activity.”
Xi's call to “point the knife inward” was part of a speech he gave at a major meeting with the party's anti-corruption body on January 8, but had not been previously revealed.
The excerpts published on Monday point to a renewed and broader campaign to instill discipline and hunt down officials who seek personal gain and those who lead them astray.
The Defense Ministry revealed last month that an admiral who served on the Central Military Commission, the country's highest military command body, was under investigation for “serious violations of discipline.”
Last year, about 610,000 party officials were punished for violating party discipline, including 49 officials above the level of deputy minister or governor, according to statistics from the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
