China has expanded its services to detain suspects caught up in President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption network, according to a new report.
Analysts have said China’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign has served as a tool for Xi against his political rivals. Academics have called Xi’s new and expanded detention processes “deeply worrying. “
Xi, who is recently serving an unprecedented third presidential term, introduced a wide-ranging anti-corruption crusade after assuming leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012. Since then, more than 4,000 Party officials, from young people “have been investigated from flies” to high-ranking “tigers. “
China has built more than two hundred sites for officials detained during the Liuzhi government, a “detention in detention” formula outside the formal legal framework, CNN reported.
High-profile detainees have included former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, two former defense ministers—Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe—and top leaders of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, which oversees China’s nuclear arsenal.
Detainees in Liuzhi centers can be held for up to six months without the need for legal assistance or family members. The sites have padded walls and dedicated guards who monitor inmates 24/7.
The Liuzhi formula replaced the Shuanggui regime in 2018, a term that refers to the Party’s ability to summon and investigate its members, adding torture to extract confessions.
Critics, however, argue that the new formula is not a reform, noting that it not only codifies secret detentions but also expands the scope of people under investigation beyond the 99 million members of the CCP to the “public power”, from civil servants to public officials. school directors to public company administrators.
One defense attorney familiar with the liuzhi process told CNN that the majority of detainees endure abuse and coercion to extract confessions.
“Most of them would succumb to the pressure and agony. Those who resisted until the end were a tiny minority,” they said anonymously over concerns of government reprisal.
CNN has learned of a total of 218 Liuzhi services this year and has published tender notices.
The news firm said its satellite photography research from Colorado-based Maxar Technologies discovered a slight buildup in the service structure in Liuzhi in 2023, in spaces with significant ethnic minority populations.
One prominent example is Shizuishan in Ningxia. The 77,000-square-foot detention center built in 2018 was expanded this year to include interrogation rooms, 30 detention cells, and dormitories for 550 staff members.
The Shizuishan Municipality of 2018 established defined safety requirements, adding padded walls, hidden electrical wiring, and other measures to prevent inmate suicides, a challenge that plagues the shuanggui system.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry with a written request for comment.
Sophie Richardson, visiting Stanford University’s Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law, and former China director at Human Rights Watch:
In a social media post on Sunday, Richardson described Liuzhi as “an attack on the rule of law,” saying, “As long as the Party maintains control of the courts, police, and detention centers, legal or not, and prioritizes political loyalty above all else. “otherwise, this will be the norm. “
“The fact that anyone who runs for public service can be subjected to this remedy (see the padded wall debate) is deeply disturbing,” he added.
Xi’s anti-corruption campaign shows no sign of abating, with a particular focus on the military. Earlier this year, the leader called on the party to “turn the knife inward” to maintain discipline within party ranks.
The comments were made in January but were published last week in the CCP’s political and news magazine Qiushi.
“As the situation and tasks facing the party change, there will inevitably be all kinds of conflicts and problems within the party,” Xi said.
“We will have to have the courage to turn the knife inward and remove its negative effects at the right time to ensure that the party is full of vigor and vitality. “
Last month, China’s Defense Ministry rejected reports that Defense Minister Dong Jun was under investigation. However, it showed that Miao Hua, a member of the five-person Central Military Commission, had been suspended pending an investigation for “serious breach of discipline,” a term commonly used to refer to corruption investigations.
Micah McCartney is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers U.S.-China relations, East Asian and Southeast Asian security issues, and cross-strait ties between China and Taiwan. You can get in touch with Micah by emailing [email protected].