The anti-corruption warning film "Hunting: The Briber Says". (Video screenshot)
Political liars in the ecology of officialdom
Reporter/Zhou Qunfeng
Published in China News Weekly, Issue 1017 on October 25, 2021
On October 9, the Supreme People's Procuratorate informed that Liu Xinyun, former vice governor of Shanxi Province and former director of the Provincial Public Security Department, had been prosecuted by the Langfang Municipal People's Procuratorate against the Langfang Intermediate People's Court on suspicion of accepting bribes and abusing his power. After Liu Xinyun was investigated, he said in the circular that he "participated in the formation of gangs and gangs within the party, made friends with political swindlers, and was keen on political speculation, causing a bad political impact."
In recent years, among the officials who have been investigated and punished, there have been many political swindlers or political brokers, and many of them are central management cadres, such as Liu Guoqiang, former vice chairman of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who "blindly listened to political charlatans and spent huge sums of money to run for office and buy officials and was deceived"; and Meng Yongshan, former secretary of the party leading group and chief procurator of the Qinghai Provincial People's Procuratorate, was "obsessed with officials and deceived by running for office to buy officials."
Multiple cases have shown that these scammers (brokers) who roam inside and outside the system have seriously polluted and damaged the local political ecology. For example, some pretended to be relatives and friends of high-ranking officials and claimed to help officials get promoted; some said they could help officials escape the misfortune of being investigated; and some claimed to have served in the Central Discipline Inspection Commission, which could help officials simulate the scene of being investigated, so as to improve their "coping skills" when they were investigated. The reason why many officials who have been in the career for many years have been deceived is thought-provoking.
Luo Xing, an assistant researcher at the China Academy of Discipline Inspection and Supervision, told China News Weekly that many officials were deceived for two main reasons. First, their ideals and convictions are not firm, their speculation is heavy, and in order to seek personal promotion or evade being investigated, they want to use all kinds of paths, and even rush to the doctor in a hurry, knowing that they may be deceived. Second, the emergence of this phenomenon is also related to the political ecology of a region, some localities have not well implemented the system of democratic centralism in the selection and appointment of cadres, and the power to promote cadres is in the hands of a small number of people, which makes some officials believe in the ability of political fraudsters.
Take advantage of the psychology of officials to "cut corners"
A number of cases have shown that many political fraudsters have seized on the psychology of some officials who are keen to engage in political clinging to the "short way" and have repeatedly tried to deceive by pretending to be relatives and friends of high-ranking officials.
The "Criminal Ruling of the Second Instance of bird fraud" published by the China Judgment Documents Network revealed that bird mou pretended to be the nephew of the main leader of the Haidong Municipal Party Committee in Qinghai Province, deceived Gao Mou, then executive deputy county magistrate of Xunhua County, Haidong City, and other officials, and defrauded property through examination and approval of the contracting project at various levels.
Bird mou pretended to be Bird Chengyun's nephew. According to the data, Bird Chengyun was born in November 1963, and served as the director of the Department of Commerce of Qinghai Province, the mayor of Haidong City, the secretary of the Haidong Municipal Party Committee, and is currently the deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Qinghai Provincial People's Congress. The court found that Bird had defrauded others of 1.219 million yuan of property for the purpose of illegal possession, such as impersonating his identity, fictitiously transferring jobs for others, promoting his position, and cooperating in the operation of engineering projects that did not yet exist.
At the end of 2020, Yunnan Satellite TV's anti-corruption warning film "Hunting: Bribe-Givers Say" revealed that political swindler He Qingfan had hunted two public security sub-bureau chiefs: Tu Lijun (former director of the Wuhua branch of the Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau) and Xiao Weimin (former deputy district chief of Chenggong District and director of the public security sub-bureau of Kunming City).
The film revealed that He Qingfan is from rural Sichuan and has only studied in agricultural school for three years. She often posts some photos of Diaoyutai, the Great Hall of the People and other places in the circle of friends, deliberately giving people the illusion that she is rich in political resources in Beijing. She invited Tu Lijun, who was in a divorced state, to dinner, and contracted a 210 million yuan project from Tu in the form of "falling in love". She and Xiao Weimin claimed to be the daughter of a provincial and ministerial leader, and after defrauding her trust, she undertook 11 projects of the Chenggong Public Security Bureau through Xiao, with a total contract amount of 320 million yuan.
At the beginning of 2019, Tu and Xiao were investigated one after another, and He Qingfan was also retained by the Kunming Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. After being investigated, Xiao Weimin confessed that he was begging He Qingfan to think that "no one will be afraid after leaning on her, he will dare to do anything, and he will dare to collect money."
Among the officials who associate with political swindlers, there are also many central management cadres. Luo Xing said that the personal resources of the central management cadres are already relatively rich, so when political fraudsters interact with them, in order to deceive their trust, the tone will be even greater. A media person in Shanxi Province told China News Weekly that after Liu Xinyun took office in Shanxi in 2018, he publicly boasted that he knew a high-level central relative. A source in The Political and Legal System of Shandong Province revealed that Liu Xinyun had been in Shandong for more than 30 years, during which time he had encountered a scammer who claimed to be closely related to a high-level central government. The political swindler said he could help Liu introduce the relative when the time was ripe to help him take his career further. Liu Xinyun believed it to be true, in fact, he was fooled by the liar. ”
Political swindlers usually refer to those who pretend to be relatives and friends of leading cadres, or claim to have a special social status, who mainly target public officials and claim to rely on "scarce political resources" in their personal possession to gain the trust of others under the guise of helping others to promote and gain people, and then defraud money or contract projects. Political brokers often have a certain political background, some of them are relatives and friends of officials, and some are bosses who have a relationship with officials to convey interests. Some political scammers can "advance" to political brokers after accumulating certain resources through fraud.
Political brokers act even craziers than political liars. Among them, Su Hongbo, who is known as "Su Gonggong", "Lafayette", and "Director of the Yunnan Underground Organization Department", is particularly typical. In May 2020, the warning education film "Political Broker Su Hongbo", jointly produced by the Yunnan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision and Yunnan Radio and Television Station, was broadcast on Yunnan Satellite TV. The film revealed that Su Hongbo served as the chief of the reception section of the training center of the Yunnan Provincial Planning Commission in the 1980s, and then went to the sea to do business. He was honored as a guest of honor by two secretaries of the Yunnan Provincial Party Committee (Bai Enpei and Qin Guangrong). In the course of the exchanges, Qin Guangrong called him "Hongbo", and Bai Enpei called him "Su Zong".
A number of Yunnan business people told China News Weekly that Su Hongbo has been calling the wind and rain in Yunnan for many years. The tobacco industry in Yunnan is developed, and the various forces in the tobacco industry are intertwined, and Su Hongbo had bribed the executives of the Yunnan Tobacco Company in his early years, but later he was safe. On November 4, 2005, the Chinese court network published an article entitled "Yunnan Tobacco Company Deputy General Manager Involved in Bribery 4.7 Million Tried". It mentions that the public prosecution alleged that between December 1999 and September 2002, defendant Wei Jian (who had been the deputy general manager of China National Tobacco Corporation Yunnan Province Company) had instructed and colluded with defendant Wei Ming to illegally accept RMB 800,000 from Su Hongbo and others while serving as the director of Qujing Cigarette Factory.
The case-handling personnel said that Su Hongbo "will come to work", accumulated a certain network of contacts, is familiar with the operation rules within the system, and is well versed in the so-called "unspoken rules" of the official field, which has become an important capital for him to call the wind and rain in the Yunnan official field in the future.
Su Hongbo did not even pay attention to some provincial-level cadres in Yunnan. According to businessman Lin Lidong, once when he went to sing, Su Hongbo drank too much, slapped a deputy provincial leader, and said, "You give me a little farther." An anti-corruption expert told China News Weekly that he had questioned this detail, and that a person from the Yunnan Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection had been told that "Su Hongbo was very arrogant and had indeed slapped a deputy provincial cadre."
The above-mentioned warning education film revealed that Su Hongbo greeted Qin Guangrong and others, illegally obtained engineering construction projects, etc., and grabbed huge economic benefits in Yunnan. Only for projects such as Huanhu South Road, Su Hongbo made a profit of 130 million yuan.
In May 2019, Qin Guangrong voluntarily surrendered. In his confession, he confessed that he wanted to climb the branches and seek a higher position through Su Hongbo. "As the secretary of the provincial party committee, these behaviors of mine have encouraged the psychology of individual cadres in Yunnan to find backers, 'connect antennas', and take shortcuts." This kind of atmosphere has spread, and it has also created a living space for some political fraudsters and political brokers in Yunnan. ”
Warning education film "Political Broker Su Hongbo". (Video screenshot)
See "political cheaters" as a lifesaver
After the 18th Party Congress, as the anti-corruption efforts continued to increase, some corrupt officials faced the pressure of being investigated. Some political crooks (brokers) have played the tricks of such officials or their families to help them evade detection or defraud under the guise of fishing for people.
The website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission published "Exposing the Routine of Political Swindlers," saying that some officials regard "political swindlers" as psychological comfort and life-saving straws. "Sheng Bilong, former secretary of the Party Working Committee and former director of the Management Committee of the Chuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone in Anhui Province, treated the swindlers as guests, and even asked the swindlers for help three days before they were retained."
Born in 1965, Sheng Bilong served as the governor of Quanjiao County, the secretary of the county party committee, and the director of the Standing Committee of the County People's Congress in Anhui Province, and in November 2015, he became the secretary of the Party Working Committee and the director of the management committee (deputy department level) of the Chuzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, and was dismissed in April 2019. In May 2020, he was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison by the Chizhou Intermediate People's Court.
According to the Criminal Judgment of the First Instance of Sheng Bilong's Crime of Accepting Bribes published by the China Judgment Documents Network, Sheng Bilong solicited or illegally accepted more than 9.6 million yuan in property from others, of which 2.6 million yuan was transferred to Cheng Mou, who pretended to be a professor at the Central Party School, "Chen Yan". In March 2019, Sheng Bilong was worried that he would be investigated, so he found "Chen Yan" to help find someone to ask about the situation. "Chen Yan" said that looking for someone to do things in Beijing requires expenses to defraud him of money. At present, Cheng has been investigated by the Public Security Organ of Chuzhou City for suspected fraud.
In the TV special film "Patrolling the Sword" broadcast by CCTV, Yu Haiyan, former member of the Standing Committee of the Gansu Provincial CPC Committee and vice governor of Gansu Province, appeared to say it. From November 2016 to January 2017, the Third Inspection Group of the Central Committee conducted a "review" inspection of Gansu, and on the fifth day after the inspection, he was taken away by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for review. The film revealed that during the inspection of "looking back", Yu Haiyan found a retired local policeman who claimed to have worked in the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and asked his wife to go to "training" to practice how to resist the investigation. Yu Haiyan said, "Later, after the special case team investigated, I told me that this person was a retired cadre of the Lanzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau. ”
Helping the relatives of the officials under investigation to "fish for people" is also a trick used by political fraudsters (brokers). According to a "Criminal Verdict of the First Instance on Ren Pengyu's Fraud Crime" published on the China Judgment Documents Network, Ms. Wang's husband was taken away by the Anhui Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection in December 2011. In March 2012, a woman surnamed Zhao introduced her to a man named Ren Pengyu and said that Ren Pengyu was "very familiar with the leaders of Anhui Province." Subsequently, Wang met with Ren Pengyu in Beijing, and Ren promised her that she could spend money to dredge up the relationship and let the Discipline Inspection Commission release people, and after she paid Ren 14.6 million yuan in succession, she did not see the Discipline Inspection Commission release people, and she then called the police. On October 25 of the same year, Ren Pengyu was arrested. After investigation, Ren Pengyu is a native of Heilongjiang, born in 1965, and is the legal representative of Beijing Huasheng International Journalist Club Co., Ltd. In September 2013, Ren Pengyu was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court for fraud.
Other officials associate political swindlers with personal superstitions. For example, Dou Yuming, former secretary of the party committee and director of the Shandong Provincial People's Government Office in Beijing, mentioned in his shuangkai circular that he vigorously engaged in superstitious activities to "protect officials and promote officials," relied on charlatans to "run for office and buy officials," and ruined the political atmosphere. In April 2020, he was sentenced to 11 and a half years in prison by the Tai'an Intermediate People's Court.
In 2016, the China Discipline Inspection and Supervision Daily reported that Shan Zengde, former deputy director of the Department of Agriculture in Shandong Province, was bent on relying on the guidance of "masters" to promote officials and get rich. In the summer of 2008, his mistress Xie Moumou went to Taishan to burn incense and "happened to meet" a "master". After the guidance of the "master", I learned that there was a person named "Zhang Xinzheng" in Beijing who could help Shan Zengde become the mayor of Laiwu. Shan Zengde, then executive vice mayor of Laiwu City, was thinking of going further. "Zhang Xinzheng" told Shan to give him a sum of money and definitely let him be promoted within three months. Shan Zengde believed that it was true and responded to the "Zhang New Deal", and as a result, he not only failed to become mayor, but also was cheated out of 1.8 million yuan. On July 17, 2014, Shan Zengde was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
There are legal loopholes in the fight against political scammers
Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of Peking University's Center for Public Policy Research and the Research Center for Building a Clean and Honest Government, told China News Weekly that political fraudsters or political brokers are "freaks" parasitic in the power system. Among the deceived people, there are many middle management cadres, who have a high IQ and a high political skill, but they are thinking about their personal political future and want to opportunistically rise. In the context of this psychological defense line, their political judgment will be in trouble.
Zhuang Deshui believes that the deformed political ecology of the officialdom also provides opportunities for the emergence, spread and deception of scammers. For a long time, the reason why political charlatans have been able to flourish is related to the special political ecology of the officialdom. In particular, some officials will stop at nothing for personal development, and in addition to asking for ghosts and gods, they also go around asking for "high people". Under the domination of this deformed political psychology, they are easily deceived by political charlatans.
He believes that there are current legal loopholes in the fight against political fraudsters, there is no such thing as political fraudsters in the law, and if they just exaggerate and over-promise, it will be difficult to crack down. At present, it is mainly investigated and dealt with from the aspect of bribery, but when the Discipline Inspection Commission and the Supervision Commission investigate and handle relevant cases, such political fraudsters are needed to testify. "Therefore, in practice, there are often cases of them being left behind, and many political crooks are not even held accountable in time." Therefore, it is now necessary to improve the laws and regulations and the credit system and increase the sanctions against them. ”
Luo Xing said that in the past few years, information has not developed, and some political swindlers have repeatedly succeeded in swindling and cheating under the banner of "secretary of the chief" and other banners. Now that the information has developed, but there are still officials who have been deceived, it shows that there is still a market for this deception, and the factors behind it are worth exploring.
On October 1, 2018, the newly revised Regulations on Disciplinary Punishment of the Communist Party of China came into effect, also known as the "strictest" regulations on party disciplinary sanctions.
Luo Xing told China News Weekly that although the regulations did not explicitly mention the provisions on party members and cadres making friends with political fraudsters and political brokers, a special chapter was set up to mention "punishment for violations of political discipline." "This is equivalent to including the behavior of party members and cadres in the category of violating political discipline, such as making friends with political swindlers, and also means that in practice, discipline inspection and supervision organs have a basis for determining such behavior."
In Luo Xing's view, most of the resources that political liars claim to have are false, but there may also be one or two points that are true, so the mixture of true and false enhances the deceptiveness of their deception. Cracking down on political fraudsters is also difficult, and most of them are not party members or public officials, and most of them are not the targets of supervision by discipline inspection and supervision organs. In addition, they are very vigilant, and as soon as they hear the wind, they abscond, and some even hide outside the country. He held that in the future, just like "investigating bribery and bribery together," it is necessary to strengthen information sharing, coordination, and cooperation between discipline inspection and supervision organs and public security organs and other departments, and promptly report relevant situations.
Luo Xing believes that in order to avoid the recurrence of such scams, party members and cadres should continuously improve their political judgment, political understanding, and political execution, and dare to show their swords to take the initiative to find their own political fraudsters and report to the organization in a timely manner. He suggested that in the future, we should further deepen the reform of the system of selecting and appointing people and enhance transparency and openness. It is necessary to establish a selection and appointment system that puts ethics first, appoints people on the basis of merit, and is suitable for personnel affairs, so that the work of selecting and promoting cadres will be more fair and open, and the soil for the survival of political swindlers will be eliminated.