By Shi Bu and Liz Lee
BEIJING, Jan 12 (Reuters) - China will focus its corruption crackdown on preventing misconduct from escalating into graft, according to a state broadcaster documentary series that highlighted the crimes of a disgraced former minister.
The first episode of the CCTV-produced series titled “Unwavering in Our Resolve, Unyielding in Our Step” aired late Sunday, a day before China’s top anti-graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) kicked off its three-day annual meeting.
The video heavily showcased former Agriculture Minister Tang Renjian who was convicted and sentenced for bribery last September, detailing how he enjoyed lavish banquets, entertainment and benefits for his family as some of the rural projects he was involved in were largely abandoned.
Tang appeared in the video clad in a plain black t-shirt, speaking remorsefully about his actions.
“Whether it was eating and drinking in violation of regulations or having fun, I was constantly thinking about such things at that time. In fact, in the end, it wears down your will,” said Tang, who was given a suspended death sentence after admitting to receiving bribes worth more than 268 million yuan ($38 million).
The documentary also made examples of an official from central Henan province who died of excessive alcohol consumption after a banquet in March, held against the Communist Party rules, as well as a case of two grassroots officials who took advantage of vulnerabilities in China’s pension fund system to commit embezzlement.
Last year, revised austerity regulations targeting Communist Party members and public sector workers banned lavish banquets, “white elephant” infrastructure projects, luxurious car fittings and ornamental plants in work meetings.
“We must cut off the chain of interests that spreads from misconduct to corruption and build a work chain to rectify corruption,” a CCDI official, Wang Xinqi, said in the video.
Chinese President Xi Jinping last year called corruption “the biggest threat” to China’s Communist Party in a signal that the ruling party would continue tackling the long-running problem entrenched in many strata of Chinese society.
Beijing has maintained a “high-pressure campaign” that has led to probes into high-profile individuals last year ranging from the former securities regulator chief Yi Huiman, ex-chairman of China Eastern Airlines Liu Shaoyong, to nine top military leaders including the country’s No.2 general He Weidong.
“The Party’s conduct is its image, affecting public support and even its very survival,” the CCTV video said.
($1 = 6.9749 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Shi Bu and Liz Lee; editing by Lincoln Feast.)
