Chinese President Xi Jinping has said internal divisions within the ruling Communist party were inevitable but that it must “turn the knife inward” to instil discipline, in a newly disclosed call to root out corrupt officials.
The remarks were made at a meeting of the anti-graft watchdog in January, but only published in the party’s flagship policy journal Qiushi on Monday.
“As the situation and tasks facing the party change, there will inevitably be all kinds of conflicts and problems within the party,” he said.
“We must have the courage to turn the knife inward and eliminate their negative impact in a timely manner to ensure that the party is always full of vigour and vitality.”
Since coming to power in 2012, Xi has sought to present an uncompromising crackdown on corruption as a hallmark of his leadership, with the twin objectives of consolidating his authority within the party and restoring eroded public trust.
But the party continues to be plagued by corruption, particularly within the armed forces, raising questions over the military’s much-vaunted battle-readiness. Two former defence ministers have been purged from the party in the past two years for “serious violations of discipline”, a euphemism for corruption.
And in November, the defence ministry said that Miao Hua, an admiral who had served on the country’s highest-level military command body and was considered a loyalist to Xi, was also under investigation for discipline violations.
The new excerpts published on Monday suggest a renewed and wider push to enforce discipline and hunt down officials seeking personal gain and those who lead them astray. Other parts of the speech had been previously reported by state media.
It is not unusual for the Communist party to publicise full speeches or communiques much later than they were delivered, and it is sometimes interpreted as a means to convey policy priorities.
In 2023, about 610,000 party officials were punished for violating party discipline, of which 49 were officials above the vice-minister or governor level, according to statistics from the party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
With Reuters
