CCDI monitor warns of major problems at think tank

A high-profile warning made by a senior Party discipline inspector toward China's leading think tank has stirred public speculation.

Zhang Yingwei, a senior discipline inspector with the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) stationed at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), claimed that the academic institute has four major "ideological problems" on Tuesday during a public speech to the Institute of Modern History under CASS.

Zhang detailed the four ideological problems that academy experts have, including using academic research as a disguise for other purposes, fabricating false theories using the Internet, conducting "illegal collusion" during politically sensitive times and receiving peer-to-peer infiltration from foreign forces.

CASS is one of China's most prominent academic research institutes. Its studies cover the economy, political analysis, legal affairs, history and ethnic groups. It also serves as a government think tank for policy-making advice.

Zhang's remarks were posted on the institute's website, but were removed Saturday after the news began circulating online, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

He demanded all levels in the academy to "remain highly alert to politically sensitive issues with no one making exceptions," and "strengthen ideology construction" while claiming that China will not tolerate collusion with foreign forces.

Zhang's speech has caused media attention and public discussion. Yu Jianrong, an outspoken CASS scholar who focuses on social problems, responded on his Sina Weibo on Sunday that it was only a regular speech by the leadership at a subsidiary institute, and said that he has not been approached by the academy over any related issues.

The warnings to CASS come at a time when China is conducting sweeping anti-graft campaigns targeting government officials and State-owned enterprises.

The anti-graft campaign has yielded resounding results, toppling more than 20 officials above the provincial level since November 2012.

The CCDI on Friday also spoke to nine new discipline inspectors at another top research institute, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, about their roles and the anti-graft campaign inside that academy, the SCMP reported.

In 2011, a CASS research fellow was found guilty of leaking State secrets to foreign nations in a high-profile trial, according to Phoenix TV.

Jin Xide, former deputy director of the Institute of Japanese Studies under CASS, was sentenced to 14 years in prison in February 2011 after he was found selling confidential information to Japan and South Korea intelligence agencies.