ИСТИНА

Fighting corruption among lower level party and state officials constitutes an integral part of Xi Jinping’s all-encompassing anticorruption campaign (notorious ‘flies’), however, this side usually receives less media and scholarly attention as compared to ensnaring high-positioned ‘tigers’. Analyzing PRC control organs’ grassroots level work demonstrates that visits by ‘central inspection teams’ (they may be dispatched by authorities starting at provincial level) remain tried-and-true tactics – inspectors use a variety of ways to assess a situation: interviewing officials and private citizens (also reviewing their written petitions), access documents, etc. Depending on preliminary results, higher-level control organs may send another group for a ‘target strike’ or ‘surprise revisit’. Inspections are carried out in geographic locales all over the country. They also may be industry-specific or aimed at local judiciaries, administrative personnel of various government departments, etc. One important area is land management bureaus whose work is often subject to complaints. The goal for preventative work is to eliminate officials’ behavior that cannot be legally defined as corruption, but precipitates it, also causing ‘grievances among people’ and bringing ‘backward practices back to life‘. Suzhi (character) education is key – in line with ‘being faithful to the original goal and always remembering the mission’ (buwang chuxin, laoji shiming), party members and civil servants must resist ‘the eight grave moral conditions’ that bring down officials and are detrimental to the country. Local experience in that area varies and is being closely monitored.