Recently, Yu Miaojie, a National People’s Congress deputy, a Fellow of the International Economic Association, a specially invited supervisor of the National Supervisory Commission, and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of LNU, published an article titled Continuously Promote the “Three Prongs” against Corruption in China Discipline Inspection and Supervision News. The full text is reprinted as follows:
The teachers and students of LNU studying the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China at the Liaoning Provincial College of Supervisory Officials. Photographed by Ning Xin.
Continuously Promote the “Three Prongs” against Corruption
At the Fourth Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward the scientific judgment on the situation of the anti-corruption struggle that “the situation remains severe and complex, and the task of eradicating the breeding ground and conditions for corruption remains arduous and challenging”. He clearly refuted all kinds of wrong arguments. His remarks are profound and thought - provoking, demonstrating the deep - thinking and firm determination of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core on the anti-corruption struggle. It provides action guidance for continuously winning the historical initiative to ensure that the Party does not change its nature, color, or taste, and for continuously consolidating the red-colored rivers and mountains. It also points out the direction for further promoting the construction of a clean and upright Party style and the anti-corruption struggle. The anti-corruption struggle concerns the people’s hearts, which is the biggest politics. To win this tough-fight, long-term, and all-round war, we must adhere to the important thought of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the Party’s self-revolution as the fundamental guidance, deeply study and understand the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Twentieth Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, and promote the integrated implementation of the mechanisms of not daring to corrupt, not being able to corrupt, and not wanting to corrupt.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized, “We must always maintain the tenacity and perseverance that the fight against corruption is always on the way, maintain strategic focus and a high-pressure stance, not take a single step back, and promote the integration of the mechanisms of not daring to corrupt, not being able to corrupt, and not wanting to corrupt in an integrated manner. We should resolutely fight this tough, protracted and comprehensive battle.” Practice has fully demonstrated that only by strengthening the synergy and systematicness of promoting the “Three Prongs” against corruption in an integrated manner can we achieve a superimposed anti-corruption effect. The mechanisms of not daring to corrupt, not being able to corrupt, and not wanting to corrupt are an organic whole that is interdependent and mutually reinforcing. We should not only consolidate the powerful deterrence of the “dare not to corrupt” mechanism with a thunderous force, but also weave a tight net of the “cannot corrupt” mechanism with meticulous efforts. We should not only cut off the chain of vested interests through strong anti-corruption measures, but also moisten the soil of the original aspiration with the nourishing influence of culture. We should truly combine the mechanisms of not daring to corrupt, not being able to corrupt, and not wanting to corrupt organically, establish and improve a governance chain that supports each other and coordinates and links up, and continuously enhance the effectiveness of corruption governance.
Launch a Heavy Blow: Strengthen the Deterrence of “Not Daring to Corrupt” through Rectifying Work Style, Upholding Discipline and Combating Corruption
Judging from the corruption cases investigated and dealt with in recent years, corrupt elements often start by accepting small amounts of gift money, and then act unscrupulously, eventually developing into huge cases of embezzlement and bribery. Ill-gotten gains seem to them to be so-called "sweet fruits," but in fact, they are "dynamite packs" that could explode at any moment. Every act of violating discipline and law adds more gunpowder to the "dynamite pack," and the more gunpowder is added, the more powerful the explosion will be. Many leading cadres who have "fallen from power" have ultimately made serious mistakes and ended up in disgrace due to their increasing power and growing greed. The reason for this is that they took chances with corrupt behaviors, believing that their sophisticated and diverse methods could deceive everyone and that they would not be discovered by the organization. It is precisely this indifference and contempt for Party discipline and national laws that made them take risks and eventually sink deeper and deeper into the quagmire of corruption.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has deeply grasped the principle and strategy of promoting the integrated advancement of the mechanisms of not daring to corrupt, not being able to corrupt, and not wanting to corrupt. Adhering to the approach of treating both the symptoms and root causes and implementing systematic governance, it has taken a "zero tolerance" attitude towards cracking down on corruption. By investigating and dealing with a number of major and important cases, a powerful deterrent effect has been formed. The practice of the fight against corruption has shown that whether it is a "tiger" (high-ranking corrupt official) or a "fly" (low-level corrupt official), as long as they violate Party discipline and national laws, they will ultimately not escape severe punishment in accordance with discipline and law. However, there are still some individual leading cadres who dare to cross the red line and put Party discipline and national laws behind their minds. This requires that discipline inspection and supervision organs must maintain a constant high-pressure situation, continuously strengthen the deterrent effect of the "not daring to corrupt" mechanism, keep the sharp sword of discipline and law hanging high, and give full play to the deterrent role of punishment, so that every public official is clearly aware that corrupt behavior is a dead end where "one should not reach out for ill-gotten gains, and if one does, one will surely be caught."
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China: "The current situation of the fight against corruption remains severe and complex. The existing stock of corruption has not yet been eliminated, and new cases of corruption are still occurring. The task of eradicating the breeding ground and conditions for corruption remains arduous and formidable." The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China emphasized that discipline inspection and supervision organs should further increase their efforts, deepen the exploration of effective carriers for the interconnected and integrated development of the 'Three Prongs' against corruption, strengthen the deterrence of "not daring to corrupt" through rectifying work style, upholding discipline and combating corruption, promote the mechanism of "not being able to corrupt" through improving systems and mechanisms, and stimulate the consciousness of "not wanting to corrupt" through ideological and political education. Judging from the relationship among these three aspects, to more effectively curb new cases of corruption and more effectively eliminate the existing stock of corruption, the "not daring to corrupt" mechanism is a prerequisite, focusing on punishment and deterrence. Only when punishment is in place can it play a deterrent role and effectively curb the occurrence of corruption. Strengthening the deterrence of "not daring to corrupt" through rectifying work style, upholding discipline and combating corruption means that through severe punishment and a powerful deterrent, the lucky mentality of corrupt elements should be dispelled, and they should be clearly aware that any corrupt behavior is a time bomb that could explode at any moment, and will ultimately destroy their personal future and family happiness.
Deepen Reforms to Foster an Environment of “Unable to Corrupt” through Sound Institutional Mechanisms
The essence of corruption is the abuse of power. An important reason for the frequent occurrence of corruption issues is the imperfection of the system and the inadequacy of supervision, which leaves room and conditions for the breeding of corruption. "Small wisdom is used to deal with affairs, while great wisdom is used to establish systems." A rigorous system can effectively prevent the abuse of public power and the use of power for personal gain, achieving the goal of "being unable to corrupt." When promoting the "Three Prongs" against corruption as a whole, "being unable to corrupt" is a crucial link, with a focus on restriction and supervision. To achieve the effect of "being unable to corrupt," it is necessary to construct a rigorous supervision system, reduce the space for the abuse of power, and leave no chance for corrupt elements. In real life, no matter how "carefully designed" the corrupt elements are and how covert and camouflaged their corrupt methods are, there will always be various clues, and these traces cannot hide themselves in the face of big data technology. Currently, big data technology has been deeply integrated into all aspects of social governance, and the advantages of digital governance have been fully verified. The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China deployed the discipline inspection and supervision work for this year with the "Eight Focused Promotions," clearly emphasizing the need to "improve the mechanism for jointly investigating and treating the work style problems and corruption issues, and focus on promoting the integrated deepening of rectifying work style and combating corruption," and requiring the use of big data informatization to empower the rectification of work style and the fight against corruption. This reflects the grasp of the new trend of digital governance and the new requirements for leveraging digital technologies to fight corruption. We should deepen the application of information technologies such as big data to empower supervision, enhance the penetration of supervision, and give full play to the important role of big data in aspects such as information early warning, information integration, and information comparison. Through data correlation, screening, and analysis, we can accurately identify clues to work style problems and corruption issues, and promptly block abnormal power-related matters. We should continuously and deeply promote the construction of big data and informatization, integrate digital technologies deeply into various tasks such as supervision and inspection, review and investigation, and case handling, and improve the accuracy and effectiveness of "being unable to corrupt." We should continuously deepen the construction and application of the big data supervision platform, integrate the supervision informatization systems in various regions, improve the supervision platform system, and continuously magnify the "multiplier effect" of data. Adhere to the principle of "experts in their respective fields" and focus on building a professional talent team for big data supervision. As an important position for talent cultivation and scientific research, universities possess high-quality educational resources from multiple disciplines. They should focus on major theoretical and practical issues in the field of discipline inspection and supervision, actively contribute to intelligent anti-corruption efforts, conduct in-depth research to solve the difficult problems faced by discipline inspection and supervision organs in supervision, inspection, review, and investigation, and provide stronger scientific and technological support for big data supervision practices. With the strong support of local discipline inspection commissions and supervisory committees, universities should be good at fully integrating information technologies with teaching spaces, focus on creating a number of high-quality teaching venues and practical training platforms, provide a better environment for teaching and scientific research, and enable students to accumulate experience and improve their abilities through simulated real-life operations.
Strengthen Education: Stimulate the Consciousness of “Not Wanting to Corrupt” through Education on Ideal and Belief as well as Warning Education
“When there are many borers, the tree will break; when the crack is large, the wall will collapse.” Corruption is the greatest cancer that endangers the vitality and combat effectiveness of the Party, and it is the greatest threat to the Party’s long-term governance. The fight against corruption is the most thorough form of self-revolution, and "not wanting to corrupt" is the ultimate goal to be achieved in the fight against corruption. When making the right choice between power and privilege, and between the will of the people and greed, it is necessary to be good at giving play to the educational function of "not wanting to corrupt", and promoting the formation of a correct view of power, political achievements, and career among the vast number of Party members and cadres. Wang Yangming, a thinker in the Ming Dynasty, once said, “It is easy to defeat the bandits in the mountains, but difficult to defeat the bandits in the heart." In real life, some Party members and cadres go from a momentary lapse in judgment to complete despair, often due to the breach of the dam of their ideals and beliefs. Ultimately, it is a matter of confusion in beliefs and loss of spirit, a problem rooted in their thinking. When promoting the “Three Prongs” against corruption as a whole, “not wanting to corrupt” is the foundation, with a focus on education and guidance, addressing the issue of the motivation for corruption. It mainly helps Party members and cadres to continuously tighten the "master switch" of their world view, outlook on life, and values through strengthening ideological education and Party spirit education, and enhance their ideological consciousness of not wanting to corrupt. Strengthening ideals and beliefs is the ideological foundation for consolidating the consciousness of “not wanting to corrupt”. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, our Party has carried out several centralized Party education activities. Through Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline education, Party members and cadres have been guided to stay away from vulgar interests, strengthen their sense of purpose, and build a solid ideological defense line against corruption. By rectifying the source and consolidating the foundation ideologically, Party members and cadres can firmly establish the foundation of their beliefs, replenish their spiritual strength, and keep their thinking on the right track, leading their action consciousness with their ideological consciousness. This also shows that only when one has a sense of awe can one refrain from doing certain things, maintain the boundaries and never cross them, and then be able to focus and achieve something. Party spirit education and discipline education should be integrated into the entire process of training Party members and cadres. Party spirit education bases should be established relying on red resources, and theme Party Day activities should be carried out regularly, enabling Party members and cadres to draw strength from reviewing history, enhance their Party spirit cultivation, eliminate the motivation for corruption at the source, and consolidate the ideological foundation of "not wanting to corrupt". Especially since the discipline study and education, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has integrated discipline education into daily life, grasped it regularly, and formed a normal and long-term mechanism, urging Party members and cadres to consciously learn, understand, be clear about, and abide by the Party discipline, put the awareness of rules and discipline in the forefront, and internalize them into the code of conduct that they unconsciously follow in daily life, so as to be honest in life and clean in work. When promoting the "Three Prongs" against corruption as a whole, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of clean and honest culture in the new era. Through positive incentives and negative warnings, give play to the role of "culture nourishes people and integrity cultivates virtues", making the concepts of advocating integrity in ideology, cultivating integrity with culture, promoting integrity through education, fostering integrity on the position, safeguarding integrity with discipline and law, and promoting integrity with family traditions more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and enhancing the ideological consciousness of Party members and cadres of "not wanting to corrupt". The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China regarded "strengthening the construction of clean and honest culture in the new era" as a reform task and incorporated it into the overall layout of the tough, protracted, and overall battles against corruption. It encourages all localities to deeply tap the clean and honest elements in China's excellent traditional culture and local characteristic resources, condense characteristic clean and honest culture brands, and actively create works with the theme of integrity. Let the power of culture moisten people's hearts, and make "not wanting to corrupt" become the conscious behavior of Party members and cadres imperceptibly.
