China to replace corruption watchdog

The Chinese government is to set up a new anti-corruption agency, the National Supervisory Commission, to replace the existing watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI). The change, confirmed at the 19th National People’s Congress on 18 October, comes as China seeks greater cooperation with international law enforcement bodies as part of President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive. As an internal Communist Party discipline body, outside agencies have been reluctant to deal with the CCDI, which leads Operation Fox Hunt against corrupt party officials, and needs cooperation with overseas law enforcement bodies when suspects flee overseas. But concerns about the toughness of closeted ‘shuang gui’ inquiries made against suspects via an extra-legal detention and interrogation system could still mean countries are reluctant to extradite suspects to China. Chen Gang, of the National University of Singapore, commented in a research note that the new commission “may not be able to solve the fundamental problems facing China’s anti-corruption drive, such as the lack of independent judiciary systems and impartial law enforcement”.