China Headlines: CPC cracks discipline whip on founding anniversary

Wu Haixiang, a senior discipline inspector in Shandong Province, has a sharp eye for license plates and can spot a government car at 50 paces.

Apart from corruption and other serious offenses, the official in Qufu fights an ongoing battle to keep up to date with a growing list of petty transgressions banned under the Communist Party of China's (CPC) code of conduct. On weekends and public holidays, she scouts restaurants in search of officials defying the ban on lavish banquets, or lies in wait on highway ramps to spot government vehicles being used for family outings.

Since a CPC campaign against official extravagance and corruption was launched in late 2012, local-level discipline officials like Wu have become the most feared faces by local government workers.

As the CPC marks the 94th anniversary of its founding on Wednesday, Wu's work offers a glimpse into the Party's push for discipline among rank-and-file members.

In April, a campaign was launched to ensure position-holding CPC members were "strict in morals and power, and disciplined and honest in business, behavior and when making decisions".

In a meeting with county-level Party secretaries on Tuesday, President Xi Jinping urged them to stay loyal to the Party and its code of conduct, to spearhead local development projects, stay close to the people and be role models for local Party members.

REDEFINING PARTY MEMBERSHIP

Fighting corruption has been a central task of the CPC since Xi took the helm of the Party in late 2012. To this end, all 87 million members have been reminded that they must be upright members of society.

"Many young people like me joined the CPC to get ahead in my career, without much though about what it would entail," said Fang Ming, a government employee in Anhui Province, east China.

"But the intensive, and sometimes compulsory, training on the Party's code of conduct over the past two years has made me reflect on what it means to be a CPC member," he said.

For many government-employed CPC members, the discipline campaign has stripped them of privileges and given them more responsibilities.

"Using government vehicles was never questioned before, but now nobody dares to," said Zhang Wei, a CPC member and a traffic police officer in Huangshan City, Anhui.

"People are scared of being caught and punished!" he said.

Liu Tian, a CPC member and a government worker in Lu'an City, Anhui, had to move into an office with five other people after a 2014 rule limiting the size of government offices.

"Now in addition to having more responsibilities, CPC members no longer have preferential treatment," he said.

The CPC's code of conduct bans behavior spanning bribery to adultery. It has been heralded for being more stringent than law.

Xi's "Four Comprehensives" national development strategy called for strict governance of the Party, which is commonly interpreted as telling Party members they must follow higher moral and professional standards than ordinary citizens.

Many local discipline officials said the Party's discipline campaign has resulted in fewer violations and a noticeably higher level of self-discipline.

"Compared with two years ago, my workload is much lighter and we leave most of our inspections empty handed," Wu said.

"The Party code of conduct cannot replace law, but it can be stricter," wrote Wang Binyi, Anhui discipline inspection agency chief, in an article in Qiushi, the CPC Central Committee's official magazine.

"Strict discipline is the decisive force that keeps power in check and will curb corruption," he said. Endi