On May 22, Du Wen, the former Executive Director of the Legal Advisory Office of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Government, stated in an interview with The Epoch Times that the number of corrupt officials arrested under Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has increased significantly in recent years. Du, who now resides in Europe, stated that the increase in arrests is largely related to the authorities setting targets for the amount of embezzled funds to be recovered. “A former colleague from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said last year that Inner Mongolia was given a quota: to recover 10 billion yuan in 2023. At first, everyone wondered if it could be done. But Inner Mongolia completed the annual target within the first three months. By September, they had recovered 30 billion yuan.” Xi’s anti-corruption campaign was initially launched in 2012 following the conclusion of the CCP’s 18th national congress.
Chen Shimin, an associate professor of political science at National Taiwan University, believes the CCP’s quota for anti-corruption efforts across various provinces indicates a lack of funds affecting everything from the central government to the local level. “The fact that Inner Mongolia could recover 10 billion yuan in three months shows that corruption is very widespread. In recent years, local tax revenue has significantly decreased due to local debt and real estate issues. Naturally, the government is short on money and therefore is focusing on recovering embezzled funds.”
Source: Epoch Times, May 23, 2024
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/24/5/22/n14255520.htm