Corruption Watchdog Targets 'Tigers' İn Ministries

China's corruption watchdog is to set up permanent offices in government ministries, state media reported Friday, in a sign that there will be no letting up in the campaign against unscrupulous officials.



The China Daily said the Central Commission of Discipline Inspection will add eight offices to the 59 already operating in central government and the Communist Party. They will focus on senior officials as part of President Xi Jinping's drive to tackle the "tigers" involved in high-level corruption.



"It is part of a wider effort to increase party oversight and government discipline," Chen Wenqing, deputy head of the commission, told the daily.



Existing disciplinary bodies will be responsible for cases involving lower-ranking officials, dubbed "flies" in the lexicon of Xi's anti-corruption efforts.



Since its launch in 2013, the campaign has investigated tens of thousands of suspects, including dozens of high-profile individuals at the top of the party. Among those arrested have been Zhou Yongkang, the former head of China's domestic security service, and Ma Jian, an executive deputy minister at the Ministry of State Security.



Such arrests have been interpreted by Western observers as Xi bolstering his control of the party by eliminating rival power bases.



Last month, Xinhua news agency reported that more than 71,000 corrupt officials were punished in 2014 for violations of anti-corruption rules.



Meanwhile, the China Daily also reported that anti-corruption investigators have begun publishing and broadcasting the confessions of disgraced officials.



The newspaper said the confessions would serve as a "warning and an educational tool to deter others."



In one online video a former official from Jiangsu province, Zhang Yin, confessed accepting bribes of more than 1.9 million yuan ($303,000). Zhang, 56, was jailed for 11 years in May.



Wearing a blue prison uniform, he said: "I feel deeply guilty to my family, the Party and society. If I could start over, I wouldn't breach any disciplines, even at expense of my life. I hope others will learn lessons from my case and stop committing crimes."



Yan Jirong, a professor of political science at Peking University, told the daily that publicizing files and confessions "can educate officials and deter potential violations."



In another attempt to stamp out dishonesty among officials, the anti-corruption commission is scouring personnel files for signs of falsified claims about qualifications, experience and age.



In some places, officials have falsified their ages and work experience to gain promotion, Xinhua reported.



The government employs more than seven million staff and many more work at agencies linked to the government.



In one case, Wang Yali, an official in Hebei province, was found to have changed personal details including her name, age and work experience. She was jailed for 14 years in 2011 for crimes including offering bribes.



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