Government Promises International Cooperation, Domestic Reform To Fight Corruption

The Chinese government has increased its role in international efforts to combat corruption, and hosted the First Annual Conference and General Meeting of the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities (IAACA) from October 22 through October 26, 2006, according to an informational Web page posted by the Supreme People's Procuratorate. Procurator-General Jia Chunwang hosted the event and was chosen as the first chairperson of the IAACA on October 25, according to a Procuratorial Daily article (in Chinese) on the next day. The IAACA is a UN body established in April 2006 to promote implementation of the UN Convention Against Corruption (Convention) and to foster international cooperation against corruption. According to its statement of purpose under Article 1, the Convention aims to strengthen measures to prevent corruption, promote international cooperation and technical assistance, and promote oversight over public affairs and public property. A November 7 Beijing Legal Times article (via the Procuratorial Daily, in Chinese) noted that the Chinese government signed the Convention on December 10, 2003, and that the National People’s Congress Standing Committee ratified it on October 27, 2005.

President Hu Jintao, Politburo member and State Councilor Luo Gan, and Procurator-General Jia Chunwang each emphasized the importance of international cooperation in combating corruption, and reaffirmed China’s involvement in such efforts during speeches at the event, according to an October 24 Xinhua article, an October 26 Procuratorial Daily article, and an October 24 Procuratorial Daily article (all in Chinese), respectively. President Hu Jintao stated in his speech that China is currently enacting and revising laws and regulations on corruption, in order to better meet its obligations under the Convention. On October 31, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress enacted a new Anti-Money Laundering Law. Liu Liange, Director of the State Council's Anti-Money Laundering Bureau, has said that Chinese authorities plan to undertake to join the Financial Action Task Force in June 2007. In addition, Jiang Wei, Chief Procurator of the Heilongjiang Provincial People’s Procuratorate, indicated in an October 25 Xinhua report (in Chinese) that the government may revise the Criminal Law so that it conforms to the Convention's stipulations on bribery. Jiang advocated that revisions to the Criminal Law adopt the Convention’s definition of corruption. Such revisions would expand the definition of bribery under the Criminal Law to more broadly include all "improper gains," and not just "money and property." They would also eliminate from the definition of "bribery" the qualification that these improper gains be received "in return for securing benefits for the person."

Proposed revisions to the Criminal Law would help to address existing gaps that allow for widespread corruption among officials. Articles 10 and 13 of the Convention mandate that Party States enhance transparency in their public administration and "promote the active participation of individuals and groups outside the public sector." Chapter VIII of the Criminal Law and Part I of trial provisions issued in 1999 by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate punish official corruption, but do not incorporate mechanisms that allow for transparency or public oversight. Authorities have imprisoned Chinese citizens such as Gao Qinrong, Huang Jin'gao, Jiang Weiping, and Yang Xiaoqing for reporting on corruption. Yu Jie, a Beijing-based political commentator, argued in an October 23 Voice of America article (in Chinese) that the Chinese government reserves the right to fight corruption on its own terms, rather than accepting citizen efforts to assist in oversight. Procuratorates investigating corruption must act under the "united leadership of the Communist Party," which requires them to align their investigatory efforts with the Party’s "related guiding principles, policies, and strategic plans," according to a September 26 Procuratorial Daily article (in Chinese). Yang Minzhi, former secretary of the Hunan Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission, said in an October 26 Southern Weekend article (in Chinese) that personal relationships among officials under investigation, officials of investigatory agencies, and officials in higher-level Party standing committees also interfere with the investigation and punishment of corrupt officials. Yang also stated that the provincial Party standing committee has the final say regarding whether to proceed with, or reject, a decision reached by the discipline inspection commission at the same level. Zhang Quanjing, former head of the Party's Central Committee Organization Department, stated in a November 9 Southern Weekend article (in Chinese) that in theory, citizens and various Party organizations have the right to supervise local Party secretaries, but that Party organizations do not exercise this right so that they can maintain good relations within the Party.

Non-transparent institutional supervision and ineffective popular supervision have allowed some officials to abuse their positions for personal gain over a period of several years before they were held accountable for their wrongdoings. Ma De, former Party secretary of Suihua city, Heilongjiang province, was convicted in 2005 for selling government posts and taking over 6,000,000 yuan (US$767,000) in bribes from 1992 to 2002, according to a July 29, 2005, Procuratorial Daily article (in Chinese). According to a March 22, 2005, China Daily report, Ma was convicted of taking 17 bribes, 13 of which were given by those who wished to secure a promotion to a higher government or Party position. More than 260 officials, including about half of the department-level or higher local officials, and 50 ranking officials of the various bureaus in Suihua, were involved in the scandal, according to a July 28, 2005, Xinhua article (in Chinese). The Suihua Financial Bureau made it a yearly practice to prepare funds intended for higher-level leaders who had contributed or provided support to Suihua, according to an April 7, 2005, China Newsweek article (via Sina.com, in Chinese). The article said that funds were sent to Ma to secure the promise of a promotion, and that during Ma’s leadership, Suihua became an "official market" where public positions were exchanged as commodities. The Procuratorial Daily article describes how Li Gang, mayor of Suileng county, gave Ma a 300,000 yuan (US$38,350) bribe to be promoted, and the China Newsweek article reports that Li Gang later accepted over 5,000,000 yuan (US$639,000) in bribes during his two years in the new position. Ma also used his position as Party secretary to suspend disciplinary investigations of those who had bribed him, and stated that the discipline inspection commission at the same level of government was unable to supervise him, according to the article. Ma was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on July 28, 2005, according to the Procuratorial Daily article on the following day.