(TibetanReview.net, Jun10’24) —A report saying senior Chinese leaders, including President Xi Jinping, are engaged in corruption and hiding hundreds of millions of dollars in wealth by using relatives to disguise their activities suggests that the high-profile anti-corruption campaign that has continued for many years and taken down several top leaders and others is nothing more than an instrument for fighting factional politics.
By 2012, Mr Xi had amassed at least $376 million in company investments, an indirect 18% stake in a rare-earth mineral company worth more than $311 million, and $20.2 million holdings in a technology company, reported washingtontimes.com Jun 9, citing a US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report based on published information from news outlets about the hidden wealth.
However, “publicly available information on the wealth and/or corruption of currently serving senior CPC (Communist Party of China) leaders is limited,” the report was quoted as saying.
What is more, the wealth of serving senior CPC officials remain a closely guarded secret. This is ensured by the fact that “the [Communist Party of China] does not require its officials to publicly disclose their assets. CPC and PRC media controls ensure that any non-state sanctioned reporting on, or discussion of the wealth and corruption of top leaders or their relatives either does not appear or is quickly removed from the [People’s Republic of China] media ecosystem.”
Foreign news outlets investigating leadership wealth and corruption have faced government retaliation, including the expulsion of reporters, the closure of foreign bureaus and failed visa renewals, the report noted.
The CRS document was stated to be produced for members of Congress in advance of a congressionally mandated report from Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines required under a 2022 legislation.
While China’s official media only reports on corruption of leaders taken down from their posts and hand lost their power, the DNI report was stated to be directed to include details of corruption by Mr Xi and other senior Chinese leaders.
The intelligence report is expected to undermine Mr Xi’s 12-year anti-corruption campaign, which included investigations into millions of CPC members.
The CRS report has said 266 members of the CPC Central Committee had been ousted. They included Defence Minister Li Shangfu, also a former member of the Central Military Commission, and Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
The report is stated to note four types of corruption in China: access money, speed money, grand theft and petty theft, with access money being the dominant form.
One expert is said to describe it as capitalists’ bribes to powerful party officials for access to privileges, such as cheap financing, land grants, monopoly rights, procurement contracts and tax breaks.
Chinese business people are said to frequently bribe “Party-state bosses” because the benefits offset the expenses.