Readers of this column no doubt notice that writing about official corruption is a recurring theme, and not just because of the intrinsic news value of shocking and blatant cases. Often, details of the cases also provide an interesting insight into the mainland's vast but opaque bureaucracy, along with further evidence of systemic failure.
Over the past few days, the details of two corruption cases - involving Lu Zhengfang, a senior official in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, and former Shenzhen mayor Xu Zongheng - are indeed revealing.
Xu went on trial in the Zhengzhou Intermediate People's Court in Henan last week after a 22-month graft investigation. Prosecutors said Xu took 33.18 million yuan (HK$39.7 million) in bribes between 2001 and 2009, when he was chief of the Communist Party's Organisation Department, deputy mayor and mayor in Shenzhen, Xinhua reported.
Lu's case is less clear. Media reports and internet comments suggest Lu, formerly deputy director of the Jiangsu Quality Inspection and Supervision Bureau, was recently jailed for life on charges of corruption and living a decadent life following his arrest in August 2009. Although a thorough search has not turned up any official announcement of Lu's sentence, that has not stopped some media and internet forums from republishing juicy details of Lu's corrupt deeds, including having over 100 mistresses and embezzling more than 30 million yuan.
While the reports play up Xu's greed and Lu's lust, these two cases inadvertently shed light on one of the party's most mysterious but also most powerful arms: the so-called Organisation Department. Both Xu and Lu worked for a long time in the department, although in different branches.
While the central government has a bureau to manage and oversee civil servants, it is much less important than the Organisation Department and its branches, which control personnel assignments of the party's 70 million-odd members at every level of the party and the government as well as in major state-owned firms and banks. The department is a deeply trusted agency answerable to the powerful secretariat of the party's Central Committee and is usually headed by a Politburo member. Its current head is Li Yuanchao , who is widely expected to become a member of the Standing Committee, the mainland's highest decision-making body, in autumn next year in a scheduled leadership reshuffle.
The department's faceless cadres working behind desks and building up a detailed dossier of every party member may stay away from the limelight, but they are most sought after by both senior and junior officials who aspire to promotions. As corruption permeates every level of society, speculation persists that some officials pay huge sums for career advancements and some of the department's cadres solicit massive bribes. It's a phenomenon known as 'buying and selling official titles', as more power means more money for corrupt officials, a tradition dating back centuries.