Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is 'infiltrated by foreign forces': anti-graft official
Party discipline officer says Chinese Academy of Social Sciences also engages in 'illegal collusion', in online remarks quickly removed
A senior party discipline inspector has accused one of China's most influential academic research organisations of being "infiltrated by foreign forces" and "conducting illegal collusion during [politically] sensitive times".
The criticisms were made by Zhang Yingwei during a visit to a research institute for modern Chinese history on Tuesday.
They were posted in an article on the institute's website that was removed yesterday.
Zhang heads a group sent to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Cass) by the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).
He had asked the academy to "remain alert to some politically sensitive issues", the article said. It did not say whether he named the "foreign forces" or what he meant by "illegal collusion during sensitive times".
The warnings to Cass, an influential government think tank, come at a time when President Xi Jinping is tightening his grip on the media and has launched sweeping anti-corruption and ideological campaigns targeting the civil service and state-owned enterprises, as well as an intense crackdown on liberal intellectuals and activists.
On Friday, the CCDI spoke to nine new discipline inspectors at another leading research institute, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, about their roles and the anti-graft campaign inside that academy.