New scrutiny aims at organized crime

Aspiring officials at the grassroots level will be more closely scrutinized to prevent gangsters from being elected to public office and to prevent officials from associating with gangs and committing crimes, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said on Wednesday.

The move is part of the country's latest effort to crack down on gang-related crimes. The ministry will further supervise election processes and strengthen qualification exams for grassroots officials to prevent any gangsters or "gangster representatives" from becoming officials in village committees, the ministry said on its website.

However, local civil affairs authorities should differentiate between gang-related crimes and less serious wrongdoings of grassroots officials, the statement said.

Village conferences should be organized by village committees to deal with minor wrongdoings of grassroots officials, so as to not dampen their enthusiasm for work, it said.

In January, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council jointly released a document announcing the start of a new round in the campaign against organized crime. The campaign targets local officials who serve as "protective umbrellas" of criminal gangs.

In Guangdong province in February, Liu Yongtian, former Party secretary of Liu village in Guangzhou, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for crimes including intentional injury, bribery and blackmail.

Police in Shanxi province detained 59 village officials so far this year for organized crimes involving prostitution, gambling and selling drugs.

Media reports showed a so-called village tyrant slapping a resident in the face in front of a news crew, openly bribing villagers to vote for them in village elections and threatening those who refused to obey their orders with knives.

Wang Jinxi, a professor of law at China University of Political Science and Law, said that in recent years gangs have tried to seize political power at the grassroots level to monopolize resources in rural areas.

"Some criminal gangs in rural areas have affected social stability and residents' lives by illegally sabotaging grassroots elections, monopolizing local markets, opening underground casinos, defrauding villagers and organizing robberies," Wang said.

"Compared with previous campaigns of this kind, this year's campaign emphasizes the root of organized crime - which is collusion between grassroots officials, gangsters and businessmen," he said.

zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn