Xi Jinping’s corruption crackdown in the spotlight as China prepares for meeting of top leaders
The fifth plenum comes against a backdrop of years of purges that have had some analysts wondering if the issue is corruption or a lack of loyalty
When Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, he pledged to stamp out corruption all through the ranks of the Communist party. More than a decade later, the pace of investigations has not slowed. Last year, China’s disciplinary authorities opened investigations into more than 1 million people, including more than 100 officials at or above ministerial or provincial level.
As Chinese Communist party (CCP) officials prepare for an important meeting this week discipline – and party loyalty – is high on the agenda. For those who try to read the tea leaves of elite Chinese politics, concern about the apparent lack of discipline is dominating CCP discussions.
The “fifth plenum” starts on Monday and is set to focus on “major issues on advancing the party’s full and rigorous self-governance”, according to a Chinese state media. In party-speak, “governance” is a byword for discipline, loyalty and anti-corruption.
As Xi continues to crack down on corruption, the fact that investigations nearly always result in a conviction begs the question over whether targets are truly guilty of corruption, or are they just political rivals to the people in charge.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/26/xi-jinping-corruption-crackdown-china-fifth-plenumOpen linkView original on lemmy.world
5 replies
“China is cracking down on corruption, but at what cost?”
There’s a few things that could be going on here, or a mix:
This could all be actual corruption, and he’s just dealing with the fact that absolute power corrupts absolutely. There’s so much that he just has to continually prioritize who to go after next.
It could be “corruption” which includes leakers and those who think differently from him. Still corruption from his perspective; larger pool than above, and the rest still applies.
It could be all-out eliminating the competition.
It could be the Chinese equivalent to the Western “enemy” where there always has to be an “other” to root out and punish to keep “us” safe.
Xi Jinping rose to prominence by focusing on curbing corruption in the party, which grew in the 90s and 2000s. It isn't that "absolute power corrupts absolutely," this is an old adage but it's highly inaccurate. It's more that any administrative position has the potential for abuse, rather than anyone in any administrative position will become more abusive over time. So what's actually happening is that some of the over a hundred million CPC members are careerist opportunists, and Xi is cracking down on them, as is to be expected in a country where class struggle is alive and well and the working class needs to retain power.
Xi is basically trying to be Chinese Stalin (in the sense of turning one party rule into one man rule) so I'm betting eliminating competition has at least something to do with it.
The only corruption Pooh Bear likes is his own flavor.