Chinese President Xi Jinping’s war against corruption went up a notch when he reportedly told the Politburo that he was disregarding his life, death and reputation to weed out the ‘army of corruption’.
“In order to fight against corruption, a person’s life and death, personal praise or blame, do not matter,” Xi reportedly told the Politburo, according to a report published in the city newspaper Changbaishan Daily.
The daily added that Xi was believed to have made the remark in a closed-door meeting on June 26.
“We have to take the responsibility since the party and the country had put their fate in our hands,” the president was reported to have said.
Xi said “the two armies of corruption and anti-corruption are in confrontation, and are in a stalemate”, adding that the leadership vowed to see the anti-graft campaign to the very end.
The campaign launched by Xi against “tigers and flies” (high to low-ranking cadres) when he came to power has seen scores of officials, business associates and their families either jailed, investigated or sacked.
The Changbaishan Daily also said that Xi urged graft busters to focus on four types of officials: those who are strongly opposed by the public; those who have not restrained themselves after the party’s 18th congress in 2012; younger cadres in key positions; and those who might potentially take on more important roles.
The daily’s article was soon deleted from the website as some internet operators said they received a gag order from propaganda authorities.
The South China Morning Post later citing a source close to the president said that the strongly worded speech was to counter critics and silence doubts against his anti-corruption campaign.
Xi warned the party elites that nothing would be off limits in his anti-graft drive, the person said.
The president also rebuked the “school of thought” that the relentless drive against errant officials would only plunge the country in chaos and that Xi, in the end, would “eat humble pie”.
According to the person, Xi retorted: “What is there to be scared of?”
During the meeting in late June, Xi also urged leaders to learn from former premier Zhu Rongji, whose anti-corruption fight and economic reform earned praise.
Zhu, an outspoken politician, famously said in 1998: “Prepare 100 caskets and leave one for me. I’m ready to perish together in this fight if it brings the nation long-term economic stability and the public’s trust in our government.”
Image: Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photograph: Getty Images
