On September 22nd, the Supervision Committee of the Commission for Discipline Inspection of Liaoning Province reported five mental problems that violated the eight central regulations, among which Zhang Xinyu, the former party secretary and director of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Linghai City, Jinzhou, gave his son three wedding receptions within one month and received 660,000 yuan in gifts, which attracted attention from the double opening incident.
Red Star journalists found out that recently, in addition to Liaoning, many disciplinary committees in Gansu, Bazhong, Sichuan and Qingdao, Shandong Province have successively issued many typical cases of mental problems in violation of the eight central regulations.
In addition, a number of legal professionals told Red Star journalists that the corruption of weddings, funerals and weddings is a typical corruption problem. The Party Central Committee has repeatedly asked to regulate matters related to weddings, funerals and celebrations of cadres in party member, and various localities have successively issued supporting rules and related regulations in combination with the spirit of implementing the eight central regulations, which have been effectively curbed on the whole. However, the problem of violating discipline against the wind still occurs under high pressure. Therefore, we can continue to prevent such problems by improving the supervision system, clarifying relevant standards, and making it a criminal offence.
Liaoning first director
Give my son three wedding banquets a month and receive 660,000 gifts.
According to the report of the Supervision Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, from 2019 to 2023, Zhang Xinyu, the former party secretary and director of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Linghai City, Jinzhou, received gifts and gifts from management and service targets for many times, amounting to more than 340,000 yuan. From May to June, 2022, Zhang Xinyu hosted a wedding banquet for his son three times, and received more than 660,000 yuan in gifts from management and clients. Zhang Xinyu still has other serious violations of discipline and law. In June 2023, Zhang Xinyu was expelled from the party and public office, and the suspected crime was transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution according to law.
Also on September 22nd, Zhang Xinyu appeared in another bulletin.
On September 22, the Supervision Committee of Jinzhou Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection reported three typical cases of damaging the business environment. Among them, Zhang Xinyu, the former party secretary and director of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Linghai City, destroyed the business environment and other issues. According to the report, from December 2018 to January 2022, when Zhang Xinyu was the Party Secretary and Director of Linghai Urban and Rural Construction Service Center and the Deputy Secretary and Deputy Director of the Party Group of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, he used his position to help others in project bidding, project implementation and project payment settlement, and illegally accepted money from others of 1.67 million yuan.
According to the official resume, Zhang Xinyu was born in January 1971 in Linghai, Liaoning Province, with a college education. He joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in May 1996 and joined the work in September 1994. In his early years, he worked in the public security system, and served as the director of Baqian Township Police Station of Linghai Public Security Bureau, the deputy section chief of Economic Investigation Department of Linghai Public Security Bureau, and the deputy director of Dalinghe Public Security Bureau of Linghai Public Security Bureau. Since 2009, Zhang Xinyu has served as deputy director of Linghai Letters and Calls Office, deputy director of Linghai Letters and Calls Bureau, deputy director of Linghai Urban Construction Bureau, party secretary and director of Linghai Urban and Rural Construction Service Center, deputy secretary and deputy director of Linghai Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, and party secretary and director of Linghai Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau.
Keep an eye on corruption issues such as weddings, funerals and weddings.
There is a second child who secretly receives gifts.
In addition to the above-mentioned typical cases, Red Star journalists combed and found that recently, many disciplinary committees in Gansu, Bazhong, Sichuan and Qingdao, Shandong Province have successively issued a number of typical cases that violate the mental problems of the eight central regulations.
On September 21st, WeChat official account "Shanxi Release" affiliated to the Propaganda Department of Shanxi Provincial Party Committee released "Five Typical Cases of Mental Problems Violating the Eight Central Provisions", which mentioned: Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day in 2023 are approaching. In order to further implement the spirit of the Eight Central Provisions, we will persistently rectify the "four winds" and constantly release a strong signal of grasping it to the end for a moment. Recently, the Supervisory Committee of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection publicly reported five typical cases of mental problems violating the eight central regulations.
These cases include Yang Yankang, a member of the former party group and deputy mayor of Yuncheng Municipal People’s Government, who illegally accepted gifts and gifts, illegally used the houses managed by clients, and illegally accepted the arrangement of tourism activities. According to the report, from 2013 to 2023, Yang Yankang took advantage of holidays, weddings, funerals and weddings to receive gifts and gifts from many management clients for many times, equivalent to a total of more than 930,000 yuan. From 2018 to the time of the incident, Yang Yankang borrowed a house of Wen Moumou, the management service object, in Sanya for his relatives to use for a long time. From December 2017 to May 2019, Yang Yankang illegally arranged the management client Duan Moumou to pay the expenses incurred during his trip to Sanya and Xishuangbanna with his wife. In addition, Yang Yankang has other serious violations of discipline and law. In July 2023, Yang Yankang was expelled from the party and dismissed from public office, and his suspected crime was transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution according to law.
On September 19th, WeChat official account, the Commission for Discipline Inspection of Qingdao, also released five typical cases of hedonism and extravagance. According to the report, Zhang Peijie, director of the real estate development management office of pingdu city Construction Service Center, handled the wedding affairs illegally. In November 2021, when Zhang Peijie hosted a wedding banquet for his son, he illegally invited the management and service objects to attend and received the gift money. There are still many problems in Zhang Peijie, such as illegally accepting gifts, cash gifts and consumption cards from management and clients. In February, 2023, Zhang Peijie was severely warned by the party, and his administrative record was severely punished, and his disciplinary gains were confiscated.
Prior to this, Enyang District, Bazhong City, Sichuan Province also issued three typical problems of illegal banquets. According to the circular, in mid-June, 2023, Zhang Bichang, director of the Admissions Office of the No.2 Middle School in the District, promised the organization not to hold a "school banquet" in violation of regulations. On June 28 of the same year, he invited many faculty members of the school to participate in the "school banquet" held for his son in a restaurant in Enyang District, and received gifts from the management clients. In July 2023, Zhang Bichang was severely punished by the party. All the proceeds from violation of discipline have been collected.
In addition, the case also includes the problem that Liu Hong, the president of Mingyang Town Health Center, secretly accepted the gift money from the management clients in violation of regulations, although he did not hold a banquet. In October, 2022, Liu Hong announced the birth of a second child through the WeChat circle of friends after his wife gave birth to a second child, under the condition that she promised the organization not to handle other festive matters except weddings, funerals and weddings and not to accept gifts and gifts in violation of regulations. Although she did not handle the celebration of having children and daughters, she received gifts from many management clients. In July 2023, Liu Hong was punished. All illegal gains have been collected.
At the end of August, the Supervision Committee of Gansu Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection issued the Circular on the Special Rectification of the Invisible Variation of four winds, which mentioned that "Strictly investigate and punish the illegal handling of weddings, funerals and celebrations: strictly implement the Implementation Measures on Regulating the Handling of Weddings, Funerals and Celebrations by Cadres in party member", and urge the party groups (party committees) of departments and units at all levels in provinces, cities and counties to improve the reporting system of their own departments and units, strictly examine and supervise them, and prevent the occurrence of illegal handling of weddings, funerals and celebrations &hellip. … Seriously investigate and deal with problems such as taking the opportunity to collect money, comparing with each other, extravagance and waste, and using public buses to eat and drink. From January to July this year, the province investigated and dealt with 24 cases of illegal weddings, funerals and weddings, criticized and educated 25 people, and gave 14 people disciplinary sanctions. "
Experts say:
Marry and collect money by marriage and funeral
May constitute bribery
Zhao Guannan, an associate professor at the Law School of Hunan Normal University, said in an interview with Red Star that it is a special form of bribery to use the occasion of wedding, funeral and marriage or under the brand of "human relations". Article 10 of "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in Handling Criminal Cases of Commercial Bribery" specifically stipulates the distinction between bribery and gifts. The main factors are as follows: 1. The background of property exchanges, such as whether there is a relationship between relatives and friends and the situation and degree of historical exchanges between the two parties; 2, the value of the property; 3. The reason, timing and mode of the exchange of property, and whether the provider of property has asked the receiver for his position; 4. Does the recipient take advantage of his position to seek benefits for the provider? The above provisions provide factors and standards for distinguishing between human relations and bribery crimes. In essence, it is necessary to focus on judging the reciprocity of the relationship between the two parties, the two-way flow of property, the rationality of the amount of property and the entrustment of property gifts.
"As far as the facts of Zhang Xinyu’s case are concerned, it is obviously unreasonable to hold a wedding banquet for three times. It is obviously not reciprocal and bidirectional to accept the property of the management and service objects. In fact, it is the cover of holding a wedding banquet to accept bribes from the management and service objects, which should be considered as bribery crimes." Zhao Guannan said.
Shao Ke, deputy director of the research and defense department of duty crimes in Beijing Shangquan Law Firm, said that China has a long tradition of caring for the society and reciprocity. It is customary to hold banquets at weddings, funerals and weddings, but in practice, some leading cadres make a lot of money by having children, getting married, mourning and mourning, going to school to join the army, and moving to a new house, and even trading power and money.
Shao Ke said that Article 81 of the Regulations on Disciplinary Actions in the Communist Party of China (CPC), which was promulgated and implemented as early as 2003, clearly stipulates that if the convenience of his position is used to handle weddings, funerals and celebrations, which causes adverse effects in society, he will be given a warning or a serious warning; If the circumstances are serious, he shall be dismissed from his post within the party. In handling weddings, funerals and celebrations, whoever takes the opportunity to collect money or commits other acts that infringe upon the interests of the state, the collective and the people shall be given a heavier or heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph until he is expelled from the party. Article 91 of the revised Regulations on Disciplinary Actions in the Communist Party of China (CPC) also stipulates that those who take advantage of their authority or position to handle weddings, funerals and celebrations will be given a warning or a serious warning; If the circumstances are serious, he shall be dismissed from his post within the party; Those who take the opportunity to collect money or commit other acts that infringe upon the interests of the state, the collective and the people will be given a heavier or heavier punishment until they are expelled from the party.
According to Shao Ke, compared with the regulation in 2003, the change from "taking advantage of one’s position" to "taking advantage of one’s position or influence" focuses on emphasizing that it is also forbidden to take advantage of one’s position to handle weddings, funerals and celebrations, which shows that the central government is strengthening and perfecting the system constraints on party member cadres to make money by taking advantage of corruption in weddings, funerals and celebrations. According to this regulation, no matter whether it is lavish or not, no matter whether it is accepting gifts or not, as long as the wedding, funeral and celebration matters are influenced by party member’s use of authority or position, such as the use of manpower and material resources of the management service object, which causes adverse social impact, it is a violation of discipline. With regard to the opportunity of handling weddings, funerals and celebrations to collect money, the main form is to collect a large amount of gift money from the management and service objects or the masses in handling weddings, funerals and celebrations on a large scale or by treating guests many times. Zhang Xinyu, the former party secretary and director of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Linghai City, Jinzhou, hosted a wedding banquet for his son three times and received a gift of more than 660,000 yuan from management and clients, which is a typical opportunity to collect money. What needs to be pointed out in particular is that if party member cadres take advantage of their authority or position to seek benefits for others, and take advantage of weddings and funerals to accept large sums of money from others, they may be suspected of committing the crime of accepting bribes as stipulated in the Criminal Law, and will be doubly punished by party discipline and state law. In recent years, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has repeatedly asked for the standardization of matters related to weddings, funerals and celebrations of cadres in party member, and all localities have combined the spirit of implementing the eight central regulations.They have also issued supporting rules and related regulations, and some have set clear standards for the scale of weddings, funerals, banquets and the amount of gifts.
Expert advice:
When the "money" exceeds a certain amount.
Make illegal weddings and funerals a criminal offence.
In order to put an end to this kind of corruption, Shao Ke suggested that all localities should make clear what matters of weddings, funerals and celebrations are not allowed and can be handled in light of local conditions, and issue specific regulations on the number of people, times, gifts (including single and total amount), places, meals and vehicle standards. In the process of discipline enforcement, the discipline inspection and supervision departments should clarify the boundaries between human relations, accepting gifts and accepting bribes, and "zero tolerance" for violations of discipline and law, and increase punishment. Those who handle weddings, funerals and celebrations beyond the prescribed number of people, tables, single amount or total amount of gifts are strictly deemed as "taking the opportunity to collect money", and those who constitute the crime of accepting bribes are severely punished according to law.
"Sunshine is the best preservative and supervision is the best purifying agent. It is necessary to improve the supervision system, comprehensively utilize various information carriers, give full play to the supervision power of the masses, and let the people dare to supervise, be willing to supervise and be good at supervision. If Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day are approaching, the website of the State Supervision Commission of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection has launched ‘ Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day in 2023 ‘ Four winds ’ Problem supervision report exposure ’ Special area, open ‘ I want to report ’ Window, linked to the unified reporting platform of the State Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, special area ‘ Weekly bulletin ’ The column focuses on the exposure of typical problems by name and surname, and strengthens the warning shock. " Shao Ke said.
Yin Bo, a professor at the School of Criminal Justice of China University of Political Science and Law, also said in an interview with Red Star News that accepting "money" is an important part of the traditional wedding etiquette. However, in the context of public officials’ identity, weddings and funerals are likely to become corrupt acts that convey personal interests under the guise of customs. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the discipline inspection and supervision organs at all levels have been keeping a close eye on party member’s leading cadres’ illegal handling of weddings, funerals and celebrations, taking the opportunity to collect money, and achieved positive results in work style construction, and the political ecology continued to improve. At present, the "four winds" problem has been effectively curbed on the whole, but the problem of violating discipline against the wind still occurs under high pressure. The party and the state attach great importance to eradicating the soil and conditions for corruption, and "hunting" has been repeatedly mentioned as an important reason for new corruption. What should be considered is whether weddings, funerals and weddings, as one of the ways of "hunting", can exert all the governance effects only by punishing party disciplines and administrative regulations without using the power of criminal law.
Inbo said that in Germany, Japan and other countries, taking bribes for the convenience of authority or position is defined as a simple crime of accepting bribes, which is different from the crime of accepting bribes because of illegal agreements on the exercise of duties, and has achieved good governance results. It is unreasonable to give one’s hard-earned money to public officials for nothing. When the amount is too large, it can be inferred that there is a big interest relationship between party member leading cadres and them. When the public authority of party member leading cadres conflicts with their private interests, it will easily lead to corruption crimes and infringe on public interests. Therefore, it is suggested that when the amount of money received exceeds a certain amount, the illegal weddings and funerals of leading cadres in party member should be raised to criminal offences, which will fully deter corrupt elements and further consolidate the overwhelming victory of anti-corruption.
Red Star journalist Qi Biao Wu Yang reports from Beijing.