Drop special privileges, avoid abuses, officials told

President Xi Jinping, in the latest move to govern the Party strictly, told leading officials on Feb 13 to practice strict self-discipline and eliminate special privileges.

He made the remarks during the opening session of a workshop on the Sixth Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee.

The workshop at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee was attended by senior provincial and ministerial officials.

In his speech, Xi urged leading cadres to "build a fence" against special privilege to prevent themselves and those around them from abusing power. Leading officials should use their power "impartially, cautiously and legally", he said.

Xi said officials in senior roles must strengthen their self-discipline and be discreet when alone and on small matters. They should also guard against the influence of interest groups that besiege them, he added.

The CPC Central Committee held the workshop to help senior provincial and ministerial officials understand the two documents passed by last year's plenum. One of the documents lays out the norms of political life within the Party in the new era; the other is a regulation on intra-Party supervision.

"Leading officials should strengthen their political capability, firm up their political ideals, uphold political direction, be steadfast in their stance and strictly observe political rules," Xi said, stressing that they should enrich their political experience and match their political capability with the positions they hold.

Gao Bo, a political researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is particularly important to strictly manage the "key minorities" - senior officials.

"If they fail to perform their duties or even take the lead to breach Party discipline and the law, the consequences could be very serious," he said. "Not only will they be corrupt, but a group of subordinate officials might follow suit. The entire political environment in the department, the region or the system might be harmed."

The central leadership has launched a massive campaign to fight corruption and strictly administer the Party since the 18th National Congress of the CPC in late 2012.

So far, 240 officials directly managed by the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee - the great majority of whom are at or above ministerial level - have been placed under official probes for possible discipline or suspected law violations. That's 3.6 times the number from late 2007 to late 2012, according to data from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the country's top anti-graft watchdog.

In the speech, Xi also called on all Party members to become more aware of the need to uphold political integrity, keep in mind the bigger picture, follow the CPC as the core of Chinese leadership and act consistently with CPC Central Committee policy.

An editorial published on Feb 14 by People's Daily, the official newspaper of the CPC, also warned of a weakening or ignoring of political values in modern society.

"The politics are not the old tune, or the ultra-leftism practiced during the 'cultural revolution' (1966-76), but it has strong relevance to reality," the editorial said.

It said that since China's reform and opening-up, some Party members have gradually come to see politics as less important, and they have become politically confused. Some have committed political mistakes consciously or unconsciously.

The editorial called for Party members to resolutely prevent and overcome such tendencies, and to be clear and firm in their political stance.

The CPC has more than 88 million members and 4.4 million organizations nationwide.

(China Daily European Weekly 02/17/2017 page15)