Top discipline body ponders microblog

A senior official from the disciplinary arm of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said on Thursday that the agency will disclose corruption cases in a timely manner on its new website and possibly open a microblog.

This is a move that observers say signals the authority's determination to bring more transparency to the country's most powerful anti-graft body.

Cui Shaopeng, secretary-general of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), said that a section of the website will report cases being investigated by disciplinary authorities at all levels, especially serious ones handled by the CCDI's supervision department.

In a move often seen on commercial websites, Cui had an online interaction with Net users Thursday through a video broadcast on the CCDI's website.

CCDI and the Ministry of Supervision jointly opened the official website on September 2 for better communication and interaction with the public.

The website is smartphone and tablet friendly. Mobile application services will be introduced so the public can get access more easily, said Cui.

"The website is preparing to open an official microblog and Wechat service when the situation is ripe," he said.

The website consists of 10 sections, including an online forum where the public can leave their opinions and proposals as well as ask questions about anti-corruption work. There is also a section for tip-offs on corruption cases. The website will publish the latest information regarding important meetings, campaigns and graft investigations.

Lin Qing, director of the CCDI website, told the Global Times that the website has received positive responses from the public since it was launched, without elaborating.

The website will carry interviews following the supervision department's key work or if there are public concerns. The department's senior officials, members of the CPC Central Committee and experts will be invited for the interviews, he added.

As the only official website of the CCDI's supervision department, it will not carry any advertising or seek sponsors. There will not be any branches in local areas.

"It has been reported that some fake journalists or websites are operating illegally under the name of our website," Cui said. "We welcome netizens' reports on such actions and we will investigate the cases."

Analysts see the move as important progress made by the CCDI to bring more transparency to the Party's disciplinary body.

"CCDI's adoption of technological means to interact with netizens will demystify it in front of the public," said Li Danyang, a research fellow on public administration with the Beijing-based Beihang University, adding that the move will provide more channels for netizens to report corrupt officials instead of merely posting on Weibo.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the new leadership has shown its determination to root out corruption and vowed to crack down on both "tigers" and "flies," a description of corrupt officials at both senior and grass-roots levels.

In the most recent move, Jiang Jiemin, head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and former Party chief of a State oil company, was put under investigation by the CCDI for "suspected serious disciplinary violations."

"All these moves reflect the determination and the power of execution from the top leadership to combat graft. It shows that the anti-corruption campaign is not a short-term plan but a key policy that will run deep," Gao Bo, deputy secretary-general of the China Anti-Corruption Research Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

"The public opinion environment has changed in today's society. It has become a common fact that every official has to face pressure of supervision from netizens whatever their rank. The public opinion environment could be adopted by the authorities to drive the reform that will force officials to stay clean and upright," added Gao.