Three dozen “tigers” were detained by China’s anti-corruption watchdog in the first half of the year, setting a new six-month benchmark for President Xi Jinping’s signature anti-corruption campaign.
The detention of the 36 senior officials of at least vice-ministerial rank compares to the 22 investigated in the same time last year, a total that was a half-year high at the time, according to a South China Morning Post tally.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) – China’s top anti-corruption agency – announced 45 investigations into senior officials last year but two more have since been added to that total with the announcement in June that former defence ministers Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe came under investigation in 2023.
All of the tigers – as the CCDI refers to them – belonged to a pool of officials known as “centrally managed cadres”, meaning they held ranks at the deputy ministerial level or above. A smaller number held slightly lower ranks but occupied key positions in critical sectors.
Eight of the 36 detained in the first half held positions in central Communist Party and state agencies, while 20 of them were from local governments or party bodies, suggesting the investigators cast a wide net.
01:54
China sacks defence minister Li Shangfu with no explanation after nearly two-month absence
China sacks defence minister Li Shangfu with no explanation after nearly two-month absence
The biggest cases involved former agriculture minister Tang Renjian; former justice minister Tang Yijun; Gou Zhongwen, China’s former sports chief credited with the country’s Olympic medals success; former deputy propaganda chief Zhang Jiancun; and Zhong Ziran, former director of the China Geological Survey.
The most high-profile downfalls among the 20 regional officials were former Tibet party boss Wu Yingjie; Gansu’s deputy provincial governor Yang Zixing; and his counterpart in Yunnan province, Li Shisong.
Li Shisong is the first alternate member of the party’s present Central Committee – convened in 2022 – ensnared in a corruption investigation. The CCDI announced his detention on June 25, just three weeks before the committee meets for its much-awaited third plenum, set to start July 15.
The plenum is likely to endorse a decision to remove three full members of the Central Committee under investigation, namely former defence minister Li Shangfu, agriculture minister Tang Renjian and former rocket force commander Li Yuchao.
Beyond the Central Committee, other big names brought down by CCDI in the six months include two prominent security officials. Liu Yuejin, China’s former anti-terror chief and renowned anti-narcotics hero, was targeted in March and Liu Zhiqiang, the police’s former international cooperation head and deputy justice minister, found himself in the cross hairs in April.
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‘No one is safe’: China purges record number of ‘tiger’ officials in 2023
‘No one is safe’: China purges record number of ‘tiger’ officials in 2023
Liu Yuejing’s downfall was particularly shocking because he was known as one of the country’s best anti-narcotics officers, working on many high-profile cases before rising to head the China National Narcotics Control Commission in May 2015.
He became the country’s first anti-terror chief in December 2015, following a series of attacks across China, notably one in March 2014 when dozens of people were killed by a knife-wielding gang that rampaged at a railway station in Kunming, Yunnan province. Beijing blamed that attack on Xinjiang separatists.
These investigations showed that past glories, outstanding expertise or political connections were no longer bargaining chips with the disciplinary watchdog, said a political scientist from Beijing’s Renmin university.
“Liu [Yuejing] was a well-known anti-narcotics cop. Gou was hailed as the man behind China’s successful winter Olympics run … Tibet’s Wu Yingjie had boasted of Tibet’s stability during his rule. But the anti-corruption team did not let them hide behind their past glories,” the political scientist said on condition of anonymity.
“In Xi’s era, no one can be spared. The investigators don’t care about officials’ past contributions. At the ministerial level, there is no immunity privilege.”
