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China takes aim at corrupt cadres and officials in expanded Inner Mongolia campaign
- Blitz on coal industry-related graft has gained new momentum after President Xi Jinping warned cases going back decades will be investigated
- Analyst says the drive suggests Xi won’t let abuse of power in regions and provinces stand in the way of his ‘national rejuvenation’ plan
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A campaign targeting corruption in the coal industry of Inner Mongolia has been expanded to cover all cadres and officials in the northern Chinese region, with investigations to go as far back as two decades.
The blitz on coal industry-related graft began about a year ago but gained new momentum this month when President Xi Jinping told Inner Mongolian deputies at the National People’s Congress that anyone found to be corrupt would be held to account.
“[We] will go after these people – who use our national resources for bribery, trade power for money by taking advantage of their positions as Communist Party officials and public servants – at all costs and hold them responsible,” Xi said at the annual session of the legislature, according to People’s Daily.
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“The party central has waged an anti-corruption campaign for eight to nine years. [We] have shown zero tolerance for any new cases,” he said, referring to cases after 2012, the year he took the helm of the party. “Now, we also won’t tolerate the old cases [pre-2012] once they have been uncovered. Our anti-corruption campaign will never end.”
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Analysts said Xi was using the campaign in Inner Mongolia to strengthen the party’s control in the region. Inner Mongolia is the second largest coal producer in China and accounts for about a quarter of the country’s coal reserves, with output reaching 1 billion tonnes in 2019.
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