Officials punished for breaking rules

BEIJING - The discipline watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on Monday publicly criticized eight local officials or offices that have violated the eight bureaucracy-busting guidelines enshrined within the Party.

Officials involved in these cases have been given a warning or stripped of their CPC or government posts, according to a statement from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the CPC.

In the eight cases made public Monday, most of the officials had misappropriated public funds for entertainment purposes or illegally accepted cash and gifts, according to the CCDI statement.

They have been ordered to return any funds that were misappropriated or taken unlawfully, the CCDI statement noted.

The CCDI also publicly named another six officials and offices that breached the rules in March.

The "eight-point" bureaucracy- and formalism-fighting guidelines were introduced by China's top leadership in a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on December 4 last year.

The rules, including those to reduce traffic controls and ban red carpet arrangements, urge CPC officials to resist pomp, ceremony and bureaucratic visits and meetings.

Centered on the implementation of the guidelines, a series of high-profile campaigns have been launched to stamp out bureaucracy, formalism and the lavish spending of public funds.

As of late June, 2,290 officials had been punished for breaching the eight-point guidelines, according to Xu Chuanzhi, head of a department responsible for supervision of Party officials' work style under the CCDI.

In one of the eight cases revealed on Monday, the Party chief of Gongzhuling City in northeast China's Jilin Province has been issued a serious disciplinary warning for drinking wine at a weekday lunch.

In another case, a Party chief in a township in Guyuan County, Hebei Province, has been stripped of his post for holding a "grand" wedding banquet for his daughter and illegally receiving 1 million yuan (163,000 U.S. dollars) in cash and wedding gifts.

The cash and gifts the official accepted have been confiscated.

The CCDI asked officials and CPC members to stick to the eight bureaucracy-busting guidelines, eliminate improper work styles and firmly carry forward the "mass line" campaign, according to the statement.

It also urged disciplinary authorities at all levels to strengthen inspection and supervision and relentlessly punish those violating the anti-bureaucracy rules.