China’s leaders take aim at military corruption

The Chinese government signaled a tougher line on military corruption Tuesday, but in characteristic fashion provided few details about how it intended to clean up one of the world’s most secretive armed forces.

A new eight-point regulation “aims to strengthen supervision on auditing, maintain financial order, raise profits and boost the overall development of the military,” the People’s Liberation Army Daily said.

The government of President Hu Jintao is in the middle of an anticorruption drive that has claimed several top officials, including a Beijing vice mayor responsible for procurement ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games and the party secretary of Shanghai, a close ally of former President Jiang Zemin.

The newspaper said the new auditing decree was signed by Hu, who is also the commander in chief.

The timing suggests Hu, who took office in 2003, is confident enough to tackle corruption in the military and install his allies in key positions before an important Communist Party congress next fall.

“Hu Jintao is showing he’s now in charge,” said Joseph Cheng, a professor at the City University of Hong Kong. “Until now, he’s moved very slowly in this area.”

Although Hu is cautious by nature, his slow pace also reflects a labyrinthine leadership structure under which a new Chinese president must wait years for his predecessor’s allies to leave or be pushed off the political stage. The military has been a particularly sensitive area because it was one of the biggest strongholds for Jiang, whose last formal title was head of the military commission.

The decree, which takes effect March 1, is also meant to send a message to other government, party and business ranks that no one is exempt from the anticorruption drive, analysts said.

Given the pervasive nature of graft in China, however, Hu’s various initiatives appear aimed at least as much at sweeping out political opponents in advance of the 17th Communist Party congress as they are at attacking corruption at its roots.

“Corruption is endemic,” said one foreign military analyst who asked not to be identified because of his connections to China. “It’s the weakest link that suffers.”

China’s military, a traditional propaganda darling of the communist state, enjoys great autonomy and clout. Drivers of vehicles with military license plates, exempt from ordinary traffic rules, breeze through toll plazas without paying. And large swaths of military-controlled territory, particularly in the western part of the country, operate as near-independent states.

The military’s newspaper said party committees at all levels would determine whether leaders of the armed forces had “fulfilled their economic responsibility comprehensively, in a standard way and efficiently.”

In recent years, the Chinese military has gone on a multibillion-dollar spending spree to upgrade hardware and improve salaries, leaving significant room for financial irregularities.

Last month, Hong Kong media reported that Vice Adm. Wang Shouye was given a life sentence for embezzlement, reportedly for accepting bribes from contractors in exchange for building projects. Wang was reportedly turned in by one of his five mistresses.

Before Wang’s arrest, China had initiated a clampdown on commercial bribery in the military. The effort is scheduled to last two years. Among the reported areas of concern are construction, communications equipment, medical supplies and military hardware.

China’s military budget rose 14% to $35 billion in 2006, although some U.S. analysts think the figure is much higher.

The military’s culture of secrecy extends beyond how it spends money. In December, thousands of airline passengers were inconvenienced and flights rerouted after China shut down Shanghai’s international airport without warning or explanation, reportedly for a military exercise.

Defense officials could not be reached for comment. The world’s largest military, with more than 2 million uniformed personnel, doesn’t have a listed telephone number or a public affairs officer.

mark.magnier@latimes.com