China’s Communist Party punishes three lakh members for graft

Beijing : China’s ruling Communist Party has punished nearly three lakh of its members for corruption in 2015, its graft watchdog said.

The move comes as a wide-range crackdown by President Xi Jinping on official malfeasance.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) in its website said that 2,00,000 cadres were given light punishment for graft, while 82,000 received heavy punishment.

The differences in the penalties involved were not specified.

The statement also said that 54,000 letters reprimanding the officials were sent out by the graft watchdog.

According to reports, the number of punished cadres represents just 0.3 percent of the party’s 88 million members.

The Communist Party instead of subjecting alleged wrongdoers to the criminal justice system maintains its own internal discipline mechanisms.

According to reports, CCDI vice chief Wu Yuliang said earlier in January that 14,000 members faced legal proceedings as a result of discipline violations last year, while 3,36,000 cases were dealt internally.(ANI)