No money, no talk: TV series reveals how China’s corrupt graft-busters traded secrets for cash
Second part of documentary aired on CCTV, detailing how discipline officers were paid to leak confidential information, highlights need for regulation
In today’s world, information is money – and this rule applies not only to various industries and businesses, but also seems to hold true for the Communist Party’s graft-busters.
Through leaking confidential information of graft watchdog’s investigations or public tip-offs to corrupt officials, some low-ranking discipline officers were able to make a fortune for themselves and their families, the latest episode of a prime-time documentary series by the party’s top graft watchdog has revealed.
The episode, the second in the three-part series To Forge Iron, The Metal Itself Must be Strong, which has aired on state broadcaster CCTV each night since Tuesday, offered a rare and detailed look into how disciplinary officers abused their access to secret information. It highlighted an urgent need for checks and balances on the party’s increasingly powerful discipline inspection sector.
Yuan Weihua, a low-level cadre at the watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, secured one billion yuan (HK$1.12 billion) worth of infrastructure projects for his father and considerable wealth for himself by informing corrupt officials of important clues on potential or ongoing investigations against them.
One of the officials Yuan “helped out” was former Tianjin mayor Huang Xingguo, who was expelled from the party on Wednesday and prosecuted for corruption.