Teaching Comparative Government and Politics

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

More than a slogan

Campaigns in China, like the current one against corruption, usually have a slogan. I haven't heard a slogan for this campaign (maybe we should suggest "Tigers and Flies"), but it appears to be a serious campaign.

Top China military official Gen Xu Caihou accused

One of China's most senior military officials has been accused of accepting bribes and expelled from the Communist Party, state media report.

Gen Xu Caihou was once a member of China's elite decision-making body, the Politburo. He will now be handed over to prosecutors for a court martial.

He is believed to have been held under house arrest for several months…

Xinhua reported that President Xi Jinping had presided over a Politburo meeting about military discipline and approved the decision to expel Gen Xu and hand him over to military prosecutors.

Rumours about the investigation into Gen Xu had circulated for months…

Two other high profile figures were also expelled from the Communist Party for corruption on Monday - Jiang Jiemin, the former head of the state asset regulator, and Wang Yongchun, the deputy head of the state energy giant China National Petroleum Company (CNPC).

The spate of expulsions comes at a time when speculation is rife about the fate of one of China's most powerful politicians, former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang, who is allegedly being investigated over allegations of corruption and abuse of power…

Tens of thousands of officials have been arrested since President Xi began an anti-corruption campaign in 2012.

The president has warned that the Communist Party's very survival is threatened by corruption and has vowed to root out every corrupt official, whether "tigers" or "flies"…

See also: How real is China's anti-corruption campaign?