New rules to protect China’s workplace whistle-blowers
Prosecutors and ministries team up to better safeguard the identities of informants and to protect them against retaliation
Beijing has introduced rules to better protect the identities of whistle-blowers over work-related crimes and to encourage others to come forward.
The regulations, made public on Friday by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) and the ministries of public security and finance, spell out measures to protect the identities of whistle-blowers and, for the first time, describe retaliation in detail.
The regulation comes amid a wide-ranging anti-corruption campaign waged by President Xi Jinping that has seen inspection teams dispatched to central government agencies and state-owned enterprises.
Whistle-blowers pay painful price even as China vows to fight corruption
At the same time, convenient channels have been opened to report wrongdoings to the Communist Party’s discipline body. Until now, these reports have had to be made using the real names of individuals or work units, with detailed contact information.
Since 1988, the SPP has issued a series of documents on protecting those who report work-related crimes. But the latest rules made the regulation “more enforceable”, Xinhua reported, citing Wan Chun, a senior SPP official in charge of legal policy research.
The risks of leaking the identities of informants is minimised
Eight rules have been introduced to prevent whistle-blowers’ identities being disclosed. For example, their reports must be heard only by designated staff, and the information stored on password-protected computers.