Bai Yang: Multidimensional Perspectives on the Construction of a Culture of Integrity in the New Era
General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out the necessity of strengthening the construction of a culture of integrity in the New Era. We must deeply carry out education on Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline, inherit the Party’s glorious traditions and fine conduct, and stimulate the lofty ideal pursuits of Communist Party members. The construction of a culture of integrity is a continuous project that takes integrity as its core value orientation. Through diverse methods such as ideological education, institutional norms, and cultural dissemination, it aims to create an atmosphere that honors and upholds integrity across the whole of society and to construct a cultural ecosystem.
Cultivating the Fertile Spiritual Soil of Purity and Integrity
Ideology is the precursor to action, and theory is the guide for practice. In advancing the construction of a culture of integrity in the New Era, the primary task is to lead with thought and fortify the spiritual foundation of purity and integrity among Party members, cadres, and all members of society. Only by identifying with the values of integrity at a deep ideological level can requirements for integrity be internalized into conscious action. Marxist theory is the fundamental guiding ideology upon which we establish and prosper both the Party and the country; it is also the theoretical source for the construction of a culture of integrity. Marxist expositions on the nature of power, the principal status of the people, and social equity and justice profoundly reveal the inherent logic of exercising governance and conducting professional work with integrity. To advance the construction of a culture of integrity in the New Era, we must guide Party members and cadres to accurately grasp Marxist stances, viewpoints, and methods, and to understand that power comes from the people and must serve the people, thereby consciously resisting the erosion of various decadent ideologies. Looking back at the century-long journey of struggle of the Communist Party of China, it is precisely a process in which the fine traditions and conduct of integrity and self-discipline were formed and released great power. We must systematically study the history of the Party’s construction of a culture of integrity, make full use of Party spirit education bases in various regions, and use "immersive classrooms" to help Party members and cadres profoundly experience the Party’s glorious traditions and fine conduct. This will allow them to inherit the "red gene" [1], carry forward the spiritual lineage, and enhance their sense of historical mission and responsibility for governing with integrity.
Weaving a Dense Supervision Network for the Exercise of Power
Institutions possess a fundamental, holistic, stable, and long-term character. To advance the construction of a culture of integrity in the New Era, we must use institutional innovation as a guarantee to construct a scientifically complete and effectively functioning supervision network for the exercise of power. This ensures that power operates "in the sunshine" [2] and prevents and curbs corruption at its source. First, we must improve the system of intra-Party regulations. Intra-Party regulations are the important basis for governing the Party and the institutional safeguard for the construction of a culture of integrity. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party Central Committee has successively revised and formulated a series of intra-Party regulations, such as the Code of the Communist Party of China on Integrity and Self-Discipline, the Regulations of the Communist Party of China on Disciplinary Actions, and the Regulations of the Communist Party of China on Intra-Party Supervision. It has also established and improved the reporting system for personal matters of leading cadres, drawing "red lines" of discipline and "bottom lines" of behavior for Party members and cadres. As the times develop and practice changes, we must promptly summarize new experiences and practices in comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, continuously improving intra-Party regulations and enhancing their relevance and operability. Simultaneously, we must strengthen the supervision and inspection of institutional execution, strictly investigating and handling acts that violate intra-Party regulations to maintain the authority and seriousness of the system. Second, we must improve the mechanism for restraining the exercise of power. Supervision is the fundamental guarantee for the correct exercise of power; power without supervision easily leads to corruption. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out that we must strengthen the restraint and supervision of the exercise of power, let the people supervise power, and let power operate in the sunshine. The Party Constitution stipulates that Party organizations at all levels must implement the disclosure of Party affairs in accordance with regulations, so that Party members have a greater understanding of and participation in intra-Party affairs. We must reasonably divide and allocate power, clarify the responsibilities and authorities of various departments and positions, and form a power structure and operating mechanism where the power of decision-making, execution, and supervision both restrain and coordinate with one another. Third, we must strengthen the system of supervision and accountability. We should establish and improve a comprehensive, multi-level supervision system including intra-Party supervision, oversight by the National People's Congress, democratic supervision, administrative supervision, judicial supervision, audit supervision, social supervision, and public opinion supervision, creating a synergy of oversight. We must give full play to the specialized supervisory role of commission for discipline inspection and oversight organs, establish lists and ledgers for political supervision, and utilize the "four forms" [3] of supervision and discipline enforcement to catch small problems early and nip them in the bud [4]. Simultaneously, we must improve the accountability system. For Party organizations, members, and cadres who are ineffective in fulfilling their responsibilities for governing the Party or who violate integrity disciplines, we must strictly pursue accountability. We must ensure that every failure to fulfill responsibility is questioned and every instance of accountability is strict, using powerful accountability to force the implementation of responsibility and promote the effective realization of various tasks in the construction of a culture of integrity.
Building a Technical System for Intelligent Anti-Corruption
The Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of a Culture of Integrity in the New Era issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee points out the need to promote a social trend of honoring integrity and resisting corruption, utilize new media and new technologies to disseminate the culture of integrity, enrich the supply of high-quality integrity culture products and services, and expand the ways in which integrity culture resources are utilized. First, by establishing a "Big Data" platform for clean governance, we can integrate data resources from departments such as discipline inspection and oversight, auditing, finance, taxation, and market regulation, achieving interconnectivity and shared use of data. By applying Big Data analysis technology, we can conduct real-time monitoring and early warning for key links in the exercise of power, such as fund flows, project approvals, procurement and bidding, budget and final account management, and personnel appointments and removals, promptly discovering abnormalities and providing data support for precision supervision. Second, by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, we can learn from and analyze a large number of corruption cases, summarize the characteristics and regularities of corrupt behavior, and construct corruption risk prediction models to provide early risk warnings for fields and positions where corruption is likely to occur. Furthermore, AI can play a role in the work of discipline inspection and oversight organs—such as clue verification and case investigation—and perform real-time monitoring and analysis of online public opinion to promptly discover clues to corruption problems reported by the masses and respond to social concerns. Third, we should apply blockchain technology to the field of power exercise supervision, utilizing its tamper-proof characteristics to achieve real-time on-chain storage and certification of power exercise data, ensuring the authenticity and integrity of information. Blockchain technology can also assist in the publicity and education of integrity culture. By building a cultural dissemination platform based on blockchain, we can ensure the authenticity and authority of the transmission of integrity culture information, enhancing the effectiveness of publicity and education.
Nurturing a Social Ecosystem that Honors and Upholds Integrity
The construction of a culture of integrity is a systemic project that requires the joint participation of the whole society. Only by taking the participation of all people as a starting point and mobilizing the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of the broad masses of the people can we nurture a social ecosystem that honors and upholds integrity, allowing the culture of integrity to become a common practice and custom throughout society. First, we must give full play to the supervisory role of the masses. The masses are the source of strength in the anti-corruption struggle. We must broaden the channels for mass supervision, improve the mass reporting system, and promptly accept, seriously verify, and provide feedback on issues reported by the masses, protecting their enthusiasm for participating in supervision. We should encourage the masses to supervise the exercise of power through public opinion supervision and social supervision, forming a good atmosphere of common supervision by the whole society. Second, we must conduct thematic education effectively and make good use of integrity publicity, education, and practice bases to promote the normalization and long-term effectiveness of integrity education. We should effectively carry out daily training, making use of Party spirit education bases, integrity culture squares, and integrity-themed exhibition halls for on-site visits, study, and experiential learning. We must comprehensively include "outside of the eight hours" [5] as well as family traditions and family conduct in the scope of education. Third, we should make good use of both positive and negative case studies for education, using positive cases to strengthen guidance and negative cases for warning and alerting. We must play the role of role models in leading by example. On one hand, we must deeply excavate and publicize advanced typical examples of those who are honest in their official duties and diligent in serving the people, telling stories of integrity and spreading the voice of integrity, so that the broad masses of Party members, cadres, and people have models to learn from and examples to follow. On the other hand, we must provide comprehensive and timely analysis and exposure of typical cases of corruption, conduct warning education, and use "events nearby to educate people nearby." This allows people to learn lessons from negative cases, enhance their awareness of integrity and self-discipline, and jointly promote the formation of a cultural ecosystem that honors and upholds integrity.