CLEANING UP COMPANIES IS AN IMPORTANT MEASURE FOR PUNISHING CORRUPTION1
JULY 13, 1989
Some colleagues are asking: is Shanghai moving too quickly in punishing corruption and cleaning up companies? Is it too soon to try to solve problems with a single uniform policy? Are we being too strict? Others are saying we should let the central authorities make the first move. Let them first present us with a policy so that we don’t find ourselves on the defensive later. Still others worry that if our neighbors haven’t made a move and yet we’re managing things so tightly, how can we manage them well? After discussing this, the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee feels that we shouldn’t view the problem that way. We still have to be determined to carry on in accordance with the direction and policies of the Party Central Committee—we can’t wait any longer. Jiang Zemin telephoned me to say that we shouldn’t wait for the Party Central Committee, that we should act quickly once we’re sure.
You all know that it isn’t easy for the central authorities to come up with nationally applicable policy guidelines right away. The provinces and municipalities should still be the ones to act first—each will push the other ahead. To the best of my knowledge, our neighbors aren’t acting more slowly than Shanghai—Jiangxi is doing very well in establishing clean government, and so is Shandong in punishing corruption. Besides, Shanghai is in an important position, so it’s only right for us to be stricter. There are many aspects of punishing corruption and cleaning up companies, and we can’t address all of them at once.
To concentrate our forces so as to gain an edge and mobilize all positive elements to the greatest degree possible, the focus of this work must be featured prominently, policies must be clear, and the pace must be steady. During the second half of this year, we will first focus on punishing corruption and bribe-taking. We’ll try to publicly prosecute several major cases in August to create momentum; at the same time, we’ll announce our policies and call on offenders to obtain lenient treatment by confessing honestly. Next, we will clean up companies. This, too, must be done in stages, step by step.
At this meeting, everyone has agreed that we should use a single uniform policy to deal with government agency cadres who hold dual positions in companies [or enterprises]. We’re in favor of making no exceptions and leaving no “tails.” However, in terms of concrete steps, a single uniform policy will still have to consist of a series of measures. In the third quarter, we’ll first deal with cadres at the bureau level and higher who hold dual positions, while we’ll wait until the fourth quarter to make arrangements for cadres at the section level and lower. For now, we won’t do anything about those below county level—we’ll discuss that after we do some research.
The most problematic thing about cadres holding dual positions is that they receive dual salaries, which usually amount to a lot of money. This leads to social inequity and corruption. We must adopt a uniform policy to deal with such cases. However, there are also some cadres with dual positions who don’t receive dual salaries. We can use flexible methods to handle such cases. That is, we can refer to the method used by members of the city government’s Advisory Group on Urban Administration: we will make Party or government cadres with dual positions but not dual salaries (including those at or beyond retirement age) members of advisory groups of the city government or its bureau-level agencies, so that they can act as representatives of the city or its agencies in assisting companies in their work. During our discussions, everyone agreed with using this flexible method to deal with individual cases, and retired colleagues supported this as well.
We must also strengthen the development of legal institutions. We should promote an image of cadres engaged in political/legal, supervisory, and discipline inspection work as acting according to the law, being clean and public-minded, being utterly impartial, and giving no favors to friends or family. My biggest headache at the moment is that I sign off on many letters from the public, but there is still no response from the government months later, “like a clay cow walking into the sea—it is never heard from again.” This July, the Office of Letters and Petitions sent me a report saying that quite a few cases still haven’t been completely dealt with after several months. I wrote on it, “Horrifying.” Cases in which Party discipline or laws have been violated must be resolutely handled according to Party discipline, government regulations, and the law. Those who ask for special consideration or who shield others should be exposed, and those who try to retaliate should be punished even more severely. Otherwise, we won’t be able to continue to punish corruption and clean up companies.
We also have to put a definite halt to the improper tendencies in various sectors. Extortion has now become a trend: you have to give some “goodies” to get gas, telephone, and water connections; otherwise you’ll be given the cold shoulder. Even hospitals want to charge “negotiated prices” for treatments. I’ve received too many letters about such things, and they’re the kind that are most likely to stir up negative feelings in people. If every sector were to behave like this, the country and the Party would eventually be in peril, and we ourselves would be corrupted. Yu Pinfang2 told me about a factory with a pile of garbage at its door that nobody picked up for several months. When the factory director was told to organize workers to clear the garbage, he said that was not possible—to clear the garbage, you had to first pay the sanitation department some money, and only then could you clear it yourself. The most frightful thing is that staff at government agencies also want money to do things—this is the awful result of agencies trying to “generate revenue.”
Those who use their power for personal gain, who abuse their authority, or who are derelict in their duties must be dealt with severely. Those who use the powers of their offices to get benefits they are not entitled to like housing and other personal gains must be punished. If their behavior amounts to corruption and bribe-taking, then it must be treated as this category of crime. At the same time, we must pay serious attention to any abuse of authority and dereliction of duty. Some factory directors don’t keep their minds on their work. They make huge mistakes that result in the loss of millions or tens of millions. These problems must be dealt with severely—they can’t be solved through a little criticism and a few fines, and these people must be removed from their positions and investigated. Those who adhere to the four cardinal principles,3 who serve the people wholeheartedly, and who display a spirit of hard struggle should be promoted to leadership positions. Of course we also expect them to understand management and to master correct operational policies.
1. This is part of Zhu Rongji’s speech at the closing ceremony of the Eighth Plenary Session of the Fifth Shanghai Party Committee.
2. Yu Pinfang was then chairperson of the Shanghai Municipal Economic Commission.
3. Continuing to uphold the socialist road, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, and Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought.