Documentary highlights confessions of corrupt officials

By Zhang Yi | China Daily | Updated: 2016-10-20 08:26

Editor's note: Corruption Fight Is Always Underway, a documentary produced by the CPC Central Committee for Discipline Inspection and CCTV, continued to show the stories of former senior officials who have fallen from grace during the country's anti-graft drive. The series, which was first broadcast on Monday at 8 pm on CCTV-1, features the cases of 10 former provincial or ministerial-level officials and a former State leader. The interviews were done while the former officials were detained, but before any convictions.

"I never paid for myself when I was with business people. I thought it was a common practice. I failed to bear in mind the importance of the 'clean-hands policy' in government administration."

Wan Qingliang, 52, former top official in Guangzhou, Guangdong province

Wan was sentenced to life in prison for taking bribes totaling more than 111 million yuan ($16.5 million) from 2000 to 2014.

The documentary showed that Wan had maintained close relations with business people, especially with one who ran a high-end restaurant at the top of Baiyun Mountain in the city.

The location used to be a public viewpoint for all visitors, but was turned into a private club.

Officials and functionaries in Guangzhou had been frequently called to this restaurant to receive instructions from Wan about how to assist the owner and other business people in their investment projects in the city.

"How come I've committed such a crime? I deeply regret what I did. The biggest lesson I've learned is that government officials should properly address their relations with business people."

Gu Chunli, 59, former deputy governor of Jilin province

Gu was prosecuted in October for multiple disciplinary violations, including taking bribes from those who seek job promotions, impeding investigations of anti-graft authorities, misusing power for his wife's business and frequently visiting high-end clubs.

According to the second episode of the TV documentary, Wan made about 40 visits to such clubs in half a year before he was placed under investigation in October last year.

Gu worked in his native Liaoning province for 38 years before being appointed deputy governor of Jilin province in January 2013. He oversaw administration in a variety of sectors in the province, including work safety.

In July of that year, Gu was given a demerit after a coal mine explosion that killed 29 people in March and a fire at the Baoyuanfeng Poultry Plant that took 121 lives in June.

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