No holiday for anti-graft

无休反腐 wúxiū fănfŭ

The anti-corruption campaign that has lasted for more than two years has not slowed down even during the Spring Festival holiday. A few days before the Lunar Chinese New Year, which fell on Feb 19 this year, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China announced that five senior officials had been removed from their positions and expelled from the Party because they had violated the law and Party rules.

On its official website, the CCDI has also named and shamed 855 officials that tarnished themselves with improper deeds in the past five weeks.

During the Spring Festival, three cartoons promoting the Party’s anti-graft campaign had become popular on-line, provoking heated discussion. A cartoon featuring President Xi Jinping fighting a tiger, signifying senior-level corrupt officials, drew a great deal of public attention, as it presents a vivid picture of the anti-corruption campaign.

On the 2015 Spring Festival Gala of China Central Television three crosstalk sketches satirized the unhealthy practices in official circles and officials’ corrupt behavior in daily life. Some commentaries pointed out that this is the first time in the three-decade history of the Spring Festival Gala that it has focused so much on the topic of corruption. All these moves show that the anti-corruption bid is a non-stop one, which will target any corrupt practices in Chinese society.