Xi Jinping's Warning: "There Is No Mercy"

Xi Jinping Emphasizes Zero Tolerance for Corruption Ahead of Third Term... Strengthening Discipline in Public Service
Chinese Civil Service Expected to Foster Fear and Loyalty

[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Cho Young-shin] Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (also President of the State and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, hereafter referred to as President), who is about to begin his third term, has started to tighten discipline within the public service.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on the 18th that President Xi stated at the work report of the "20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (20th Party Congress)" held on the 16th that a zero-tolerance policy would be applied to corrupt senior officials and civil servants.

President Xi said, "We will seriously address corruption involving political and economic issues," and "We will take resolute measures against collusion between politics and business." He emphasized, "We will show no mercy to the corrupt."

The zero-tolerance policy serves as a warning to the Chinese civil service and is also interpreted as a message to the 1.4 billion people of the nation to minimize negative perceptions regarding his third term.

Regarding President Xi's remarks, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party announced in a separate briefing the previous day that over the past decade (from the 18th to the 19th Party Congress), more than 25,000 senior officials at the bureau level or above and 182,000 officials at the county level were disciplined.

Xiao Fei, Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, said, "Corruption must always be guarded against as it can overthrow the regime," and "There can be no retreat in vigilance against corruption." He added that the report of the 20th Party Congress shows that the Party’s comprehensive and strict governance is always ongoing, and the way to ensure that the Party’s foundation, beliefs, and character never change is through self-reform.

Chinese media such as China News Network have uniformly covered the Party’s anti-corruption efforts and achievements over the past decade.

In this regard, SCMP predicted that anti-corruption is one of President Xi’s signature policies and that he will continue the war against corruption for the next five years.

Alfred Wu, a professor at the National University of Singapore, said, "Collusion between officials and businesses is a chronic and deeply rooted problem in China," and "President Xi will continue the anti-corruption campaign to demonstrate his commitment to eradicating corruption." He added that while the anti-corruption policy instills fear within the civil service, it also elicits voluntary loyalty.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.