New Platform for Whistleblowers

For Bai Jianjun， a 53-year-old villager from Sanyuan County， northwest China’s Shaanxi Province， the newly launched official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection （CCDI） of the Communist Party of China （CPC） opens a new door to justice. The CCDI is the top discipline watchdog of the Party.

On September 2， the CCDI officially launched ccdi.gov.cn， integrating the resources of five previous anti-corruption websites. It features anti-corruption news， policies and case studies.

The website is most noteworthy for its function that allows people to tip off the CCDI to corruption and other disciplinary violations. It also has links that direct visitors to the websites of the provincial-level discipline inspection commissions of the Party and the agencies of provincial-level governments that handle public petitions.

On September 14， Bai used the CCDI’s website to report corruption by Meng Xiaosuo， Sanyuan’s deputy police chief. When submitting his report， he was offered the option of remaining anonymous or using his real name. Wang chose to use his real name because such reports are given priority.

“After reading the message telling me that my report had been successfully submitted， I was really excited. Hope is here，” Bai told Beijingbased Time Weekly.

Bai submitted his report to expose Meng’s illegal business operations. China’s Civil Service Law forbids civil servants from engaging in business. But in April 2006， Meng and Bai’s younger brother set up a vegetable trading company， each contributing half of the company’s total registered capital， Bai said.

In November 2007， Bai’s younger brother died from illness， leaving behind a daughter. Since she was a minor， Bai became her guard- ian and began to manage the trading company on her behalf. While managing the company， Bai and Meng often disagreed and gradually came to hold a grudge against one another.

Meng arranged a meeting with Bai at a teahouse on April 8. Bai waited for hours， but Meng did not show up.

On his way home， Bai was assaulted and his legs were broken. Bai believes that Meng sent the attackers， as there was nobody else he had disputes with. He reported the incident to local police authorities， which said that they would investigate. Several months passed， the case remained unresolved. Bai began to report Meng’s behavior .

Effective method

Since 2005， the CCDI and local anti-corruption agencies launched a number of websites aimed at tackling corruption. Since these earlier websites lacked standardized domain names， content or format， whistleblowers could not identify or access them easily.

On October 28， 2009 the CCDI launched 12388.gov.cn to accept public tip-offs and suggestions on curbing corruption. In the first month， that website received 13，800 reports， averaging 460 a day， according to CCDI. Yet after the first month， the website’s traffic declined. In the first quarter of 2013， the website received an average of 150-200 reports daily.

To increase public awareness of its official website， the CCDI placed an icon that reads， “I want to report” on its homepage.

On September 22， the CCDI announced procedures for receiving and handling petitions and reports from the public， explaining ways the public could report cases， the kinds of complaints handled， petitioners’ rights and the body’s obligations.

The CCDI said that it will handle reports on disciplinary violations committed by Party organizations and members； complaints on Party members and officials who refuse punishment； and suggestions on Party building and discipline supervision.

Public complaints will be accepted through letters， online posts， personal visits and hotlines and will then be assigned to the relevant departments.

As for cases within the jurisdiction of local disciplinary bodies or procuratorial departments， the commission will transfer th6ea552cffb8653c2862e584a52a498565a33e772fc38a8a57803d168e3731038e cases to them， urging them to investigate and report the results， the CCDI said.

In the first month after the launch of the new website， the CCDI’s website received more than 24，800 reports， averaging more than 800 per day， according to a news report by Xinhua News Agency.

“The website is a new tool in the fight against corruption，” said Dai Yanjun， Vice Dean of the Party Building Teaching and Research Department， the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

“Reporting corruption online is convenient， fast and highly confidential， and the website provides an opportunity for direct communication between the general public and high-level anti-graft authorities，” Dai said.

The Internet has long been favored by whistleblowers when exposing corruptive officials. From 2010 to 2012， 156 confirmed cases of corruption first came to light through online news reports， online forums， micro-blogs or organizations’ official websites， according to the Annual Report on Development of New Media in China， which was released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in June. Information exposed on the Internet has led to the recent downfall of a number of officials.

Liu Tienan， former Vice Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission， China’s top economic planner， was removed from public office on May 14 for“serious disciplinary violations.”

In December 2012， on his micro-blog on Sina Weibo， Luo Changping， an editor at Beijingbased Caijing magazine， accused Liu of faking his education credentials， colluding with business people to cheat the government for loans and threatening others.

Weeks after Luo’s micro-blog post appeared， the CCDI began investigating. On August 8， Liu was expelled from the CPC and public office after the CCDI found that he took advantage of his position and used it for personal gain. On August 18， the Supreme People’s Procuratorate began a criminal investigation into the case.

In August 2012， a picture posted online showed Yang Dacai， then head of the Shaanxi Provincial Bureau of Work Safety， grinning broadly at the scene of a traffic accident that claimed 36 lives and wearing an expensive watch. The photo prompted further research by netizens， who found more pictures of him wearing different luxury timepieces. Yang was removed from his position the following month and expelled from the Party this February for“severe violations of Party discipline.” He was sentenced on September 4 to 14 years in prison on charges of accepting bribes and holding property from unidentified sources.

Though the Internet is effective in fighting corruption， some netizens have offered false or malicious tip-offs anonymously， harming innocent people， tarnishing the victims’ reputation and intruding on their privacy， said Xin Ming， a professor at the Party School of the CPC Central Committee.

Recently， China has clamped down on online misinformation. The Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate issued a judicial interpretation， which went into effect on September 10， stating that those who fabricate facts to slander others on the Internet may face up to three years in prison. The crackdown triggered anxiety among whistleblowers who fear that their reports on corruption will be dealt with as false rumors by corrupt officials looking to retaliate.

“The CCDI website provides an official channel for whistleblowers， while avoiding proliferation of rumors that may be used to defame or blackmail targeted officials，” said Ren Jianming， Director of the Clean Governance Research and Education Center at Beihang University in Beijing.

Stronger system

Data from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate show that from this January to August， procuratorial departments all over the country investigated 22，617 corruption cases involving 30，938 individuals， of which， 7，080 were reported by the public.

Though websites belonging to discipline watchdogs are powerful anti-corruption tools for the general public to expose corruption， the success of anti-corruption efforts hinges on offline measures.

“The Internet is just a platform for expressing opinions. A long-term effective anti-corruption system depends on discipline watchdog resolutions when investigating corruption， their independence and power， as well as substantial institutional reform，” Ren said. He added that improving laws and regulations is instrumental in curbing corruption.

At a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on August 27， the top leadership approved a 2013-17 work plan for establishing and improving the system for punishing and preventing corruption.

A statement released after the meeting vowed to reform the CPC’s discipline inspection system， redesign anti-corruption mechanisms and improve the Party’s supervision and inspection systems at all levels. The document said that the exercise of power by officials must be checked and supervised to create a system where officials do not dare to be corrupt.

Establishing and improving the system for punishing and preventing corruption are also expected to be on the agenda of the upcoming Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in November.

At the upcoming meeting， decisions on restructuring the CCDI and giving it more power might be made， according to Li Chengyan， Deputy Director of the Institute of China Supervision.