Chinese officials used taxpayers’ money to have roadside grass, weeds and flowers trimmed to a height of exactly 10 centimeters.
But the ridiculous policy irritated members of that county’s public, who tipped off agents specializing in wrongful spending and corruption, it was revealed this week. They halted the operation and punished the county officials.
At the same time, the Chinese authorities executed an official from Inner Mongolia for major acts of corruption (totalling three billion yuan, which is about US$412 million). He was put to death on December 17, one of many powerful people given stern sentences by the country’s judiciary recently.
It’s a stark contrast to the United States, where powerful people often avoid punishment. Outgoing US President Joe Biden earlier this month pardoned his son Hunter, due to be sentenced on two criminal charges, and incoming President Donald Trump is working to cancel his own felony charges.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
It’s ironic, since there is a widespread belief that members of China’s ruling party are “above the law” while all people in the US, in theory, are subject to the same laws. Reality tells a different tale.
The grass-cutting incident and the execution of the official show the extraordinary range of cases dealt with by the National Supervisory Commission, China’s anti-corruption agency, and its partner agencies.
The Commission is in the spotlight this week for several reasons. One is that leader Xi Jinping’s latest anti-corruption campaign, which began at the start of 2023, has snared many top officials in the past 24 months—with the total boosted by the detention of high-ranking military officers and even generals this week.
Another reason is that people from Hong Kong and other parts of China gathered in Beijing this week for the National People’s Congress Standing Committee to fine-tune the laws that underpin the Commission. The fine-tuning gives more empowerment to local bodies while reinforcing the human rights of people under investigation.
‘WIND OF RIGHTEOUSNESS’
Between the two extremes of wrongful spending and execution-worthy acts, Commission agents made arrests on more traditional cases, in which officials corruptly accepted gifts or banquets, or in one case, had a lavish family funeral paid for by business people.
But certainly, the numbers revealed at the meeting this week mean there’s no reason to believe the myth that officials are above the law. At the NPC meeting, Commission director Liu Jinguo said that since 2022, the national supervisory bodies have investigated and dealt with a total of 768,000 cases in which officials acted unfairly or corruptly, and punished 628,000 people.
This storm of activity is necessary, he said. Citizens need to “truly feel that the wind of righteousness against corruption is increasing, and the breeze is around them”, he said, as reported by the Chinese press.
XI’S POPULARITY
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s relentless support for anti-corruption efforts is often credited as one of the main reasons he is so popular. Formed in 2018, the National Supervisory Commission quickly gained a reputation for tackling large problems, but also smaller ones.
For example, in 2018, a public whistleblower said that a family in his district listed under the name of the father, Chen Moudi, claimed to be low-income people entitled to benefits—yet they owned three homes.
Agents investigated and discovered there were two Chen Moudi families in the district, with local officials carelessly treating them as one. The officials were punished.
At the time, the Chinese press said that some people were critical, saying that agents should only go after big fish. “Isn’t the Supervisory group investigating corrupt officials? Why don’t you let go of such a little thing?” one critic said.
NEED FOR DISCIPLINE
But the agency responded that it was important for society to be fair at all levels. In October last year, the government revealed that 34 senior officials at provincial or ministerial levels had been punished.
At the other end of the scale, the 10cm plants project in Xixian county in Xinyang, Henan, Central China, was one of 700 “unnecessary landscaping” projects halted by China’s anti-corruption agents in a crackdown, the Global Times reported this week.
In another case, an official in a Xinjiang county made a rule saying that all rural roadside walls had to be painted white. Agents cancelled that project, too.
Wrongful spending and corruption projects are often grouped together in China under the heading of “discipline”. The message is clear: it is crucial that massive organizations have discipline, but it is also vital for each individual to have it too. The result, if all goes well, is a level of social cohesion that enables a society to achieve development.
Image at the top by Fridayeveryday.