Why Strict Supervision and Discipline Are Sharp Tools for the Party's Self-Revolution
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized during the 21st collective study session of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee: "Strict supervision and discipline enforcement are the sharp tools of the Party’s self-revolution; issues regarding violations of discipline and law must be handled resolutely." From the strategic height of advancing the Party’s self-revolution, General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly elucidated the important status and key role of strict supervision and discipline enforcement in Party building, providing the fundamental guidance and pointing the way forward for the promotion of the Party's self-revolution. Strict supervision and discipline enforcement in accordance with regulations, discipline, and the law are key measures for punishing corruption and rectifying conduct. On the new journey of the New Era, we must provide a strong guarantee through strict discipline, clear obstacles by opposing corruption and punishing evil, and promote the continuous deepening of the Party’s self-revolution to ensure the Party never changes its nature, its conviction, or its character.
I. Profoundly Understand the Major Significance of Strict Supervision and Discipline Enforcement
Self-revolution is the second answer our Party has found to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall [1]; it is the internal driving force and fundamental guarantee for the Party to maintain its lasting vitality. Without strict discipline and powerful supervision and discipline enforcement, anti-corruption efforts would become a mere formality and lose their edge, and the Party would be unable to effectively resolve its own existing problems. Strict supervision and discipline enforcement are the keys to ensuring that the Party’s self-revolution is effectively advanced and achieves concrete results; they must be carried out consistently and without relaxation.
An inevitable requirement for maintaining the Party’s advanced nature and purity. Advanced nature and purity are the essential attributes of a Marxist party; maintaining them is the prerequisite and guarantee for our Party to perform all its work well. Currently, profound changes have occurred both in the Party’s own development and in the domestic and international situations it faces. Factors that weaken the Party’s advanced nature and damage its purity exist at all times, and dangers that violate our original aspiration and founding mission or shake the Party's foundations are everywhere. If we do not guard against them strictly and rectify them in time, small problems could turn into major ones, and small "seepages" [2] could lead to a massive collapse, which would inevitably affect the Party’s advanced nature and purity. On the new journey of the New Era, we must dare to confront problems directly, have the courage to face them head-on, and continue to carry out the most thorough self-revolution. We must always "put discipline in front," strengthen daily supervision, use the Party’s discipline as a yardstick to measure the behavior of Party members and cadres and correct deviations, strike at undesirable tendencies and corruption as soon as they emerge, resolutely eradicate chronic ailments, and ensure the health of the Party’s "body."
The key to winning the trust and support of the people. The Party’s foundation is in the people, its lifeblood is in the people, and its strength is in the people. The people provide the greatest confidence for our Party’s governance. If the Party wins the trust and support of the people, it can overcome any difficulty and be invincible. As a sharp tool of the Party’s self-revolution, the starting point and ultimate goal of strict supervision and discipline enforcement is, in the final analysis, to maintain the fundamental interests of the broadest possible masses. Since the 18th National Congress [3], the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has focused on the corruption and undesirable tendencies that the masses detest most. Through strict supervision and discipline enforcement, and with the firm determination to "offend thousands to avoid failing 1.4 billion," it has adhered to the principles of "no off-limits zones, full coverage, and zero tolerance." With the courage to "scrape the poison off the bone" [4] to eliminate the "black sheep," the Party has strictly punished all types of issues infringing on the people's interests and resolutely curbed "privilege-seeking" thoughts and phenomena. This has effectively reshaped the Party’s credibility, maintained social fairness and justice, and purified the political ecosystem, winning the trust and firm support of the masses. However, we must clearly realize that the situation in the anti-corruption struggle remains grim and complex, and the task of uprooting the soil and conditions that breed corruption remains arduous. We must continue to deepen self-revolution and consolidate the mass base for the Party’s long-term governance through the practical results of "iron-fisted" anti-corruption and rectifying conduct and discipline.
An important guarantee for achieving the Party’s long-term governance and the development of its cause. General Secretary Xi Jinping profoundly pointed out that self-revolution is the fundamental path for our Party to escape the historical cycle of rise and fall and achieve long-term governance; the longer we are in power, the more we must not lose the spirit of self-revolution. By strengthening the restraint and supervision of the exercise of power and seriously investigating corruption and undesirable tendencies, we can effectively enhance the Party’s creativity, cohesion, and combat effectiveness, and improve the Party’s governance and leadership capacity. Over the past decade, through the revolutionary forging of comprehensively and strictly governing the Party in the New Era, an atmosphere of "genuine management, strict management, and long-term management" has basically taken shape. The conduct of the Party and the government has taken on a new look, and social and folk customs have continued to improve. This has provided a strong guarantee for the historic achievements and transformations in the cause of the Party and the state in the New Era and consolidated the political foundation for the Party's long-term governance. Facing the historical mission of comprehensively advancing the building of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-path modernization, as well as the major challenges of "high winds and turbulent waves" or even "stormy seas," and the long-existing "four tests" [5] and "four dangers" [6], we must unswervingly advance the Party’s self-revolution. We must consciously plan and promote strict supervision and discipline enforcement within the overall context of the development of the Party and the state, continuously consolidating the Party’s long-term governing status and ensuring that Chinese-path modernization proceeds steadily and for the long term.
II. Accurately Grasp the Core Essence of Strict Supervision and Discipline Enforcement
Strict supervision and discipline enforcement are important practical forms of advancing the Party’s self-revolution and play an irreplaceable role in this process in the New Era. We must profoundly recognize their inherent connotations and requirements, accurately grasp their core essence, and continuously consolidate and expand the achievements of the Party’s self-revolution.
We must persist in comprehensive strictness and be strict to the end. "Strictness" is a distinctive feature of our Party’s management of itself in the New Era and an important requirement of the spirit of self-revolution. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted, "To govern the country, one must first govern the Party; to govern the Party, one must be strict." He added, "Our Party is the world’s largest Marxist governing party. Being large means one must behave like a large party, but being large also brings unique difficulties. Only through strict management and governance can we maintain the standard a large party should have and solve the unique challenges facing a large party." We must view comprehensively and strictly governing the Party as a long-term strategy and an eternal subject, standing at the heights of the Party’s long-term governance, the country’s lasting peace and stability, and the people’s happiness and well-being. We must always prioritize strictness, ensuring full strictness and strictness to the end, achieving persistence over the long term. Since the 18th National Congress, our Party has broken ground by formulating and implementing the Eight-Point Regulations, advancing comprehensively and strictly governing the Party with firm determination, tenacious will, and unprecedented intensity. By persisting in strictness across ideology, supervision, discipline enforcement, official management, conduct, and anti-corruption, we have achieved remarkable results, and the Party has become stronger and more vigorous through this revolutionary forging. On the new journey, the complexity of tasks and the severity of risks and challenges the Party faces are unprecedented. We must remember that comprehensively and strictly governing the Party is a journey without an end, and the Party's self-revolution is also a journey without an end. We must resolutely overcome sentiments of relaxation or "war-weariness" and prevent erroneous expectations of "changing course" or "turning down the volume." We must always remain problem-oriented, maintain strategic resolve, and always "sound the charge," maintaining a strict tone, strict measures, and a strict atmosphere for a long time.
We must persist in "nipping problems in the bud" and ensuring permanent effects. Supervision is the "frontline of defense" for preventing and defusing the Party’s own risks and challenges; it is a manifestation of "treating the disease before it arises." Emphasizing the strengthening of self-supervision and actively accepting the supervision of the people are fine traditions and unique advantages of the Party. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that to deeply advance the Party’s self-revolution, we must use the combination of self-supervision and people’s supervision as a powerful driving force. He emphasized that “we must make the management and supervision of Party organizations, Party members and cadres (especially leading cadres), and intra-Party political life strict in standards, systematic in content, perfected in measures, and connected in links, ensuring that no items are missed, no components are lacking, and the chain is never broken.” We must strengthen the all-around management and regular supervision of cadres. For "sprouting" or "tendency-based" problems [7] appearing in cadres, we should "tweak their ears" and "pull their sleeves" in a timely manner—providing early reminders and corrections. since the 18th National Congress, our Party has continuously improved the Party and state supervision system, building a system under the Party’s unified leadership that is comprehensive, authoritative, and efficient. We have perfected the mechanism for the restraint and supervision of power, using intra-Party supervision as the lead to promote the coordination of all types of supervision. With the resolve of "not leaving the saddle and not loosening the reins" and the tenacity of persistence over the long term, we have strictly grasped supervision to build a solid barrier for strictly governing the Party. On the new journey, we must firmly grasp the significance and requirements of supervision, basing it on being "early" and "small," focusing on the daily, and valuing persistence. We must emphasize both the key supervision of the "key few" [8] and the full coverage of Party organizations at all levels and all Party members, keeping the "searchlight" of supervision always bright, so that Party members and cadres become accustomed to performing their duties and working under supervision and restraint. We must use regular and long-lasting supervision to consolidate the first line of defense in comprehensively and strictly governing the Party.
We must persist in strict discipline enforcement and ensure every violation is investigated. Discipline is the Party’s lifeline, and strict discipline enforcement is an important guarantee for maintaining the authority of the Party’s discipline and advancing the Party’s self-revolution to a deeper level. General Secretary Xi Jinping noted, "If discipline is not upheld, the Party will not be a Party, and the country will not be a country." He also stated, "For the Party to manage itself and be strictly governed, what should it rely on? It must rely on strict discipline." Regarding strict discipline enforcement, we must have strict standards, turning the "hard requirements" of Party conduct and discipline into "hard measures," letting "iron rules grow iron teeth," and sending a signal to the whole Party of strictness to the end and not yielding an inch. This creates a deterrent effect. We must ensure that all Party members are equal before Party discipline, seriously investigating and strictly disciplining all passive and corrupt phenomena within the Party, and allowing no "special members" who are not subject to disciplinary restraint. Since the 18th National Congress, our Party has resolutely investigated all types of disciplinary violations with the courage of "turning the blade inward," making discipline a "hard restraint" for regulating the behavior of Party members, which has effectively maintained the Party's unity and health. On the new journey, to unswervingly advance comprehensively and strictly governing the Party and tirelessly deepen self-revolution, we must place discipline building in a more prominent position. We must persist in strict discipline enforcement and the investigation of every violation, accurately applying the "four forms" of supervision and discipline enforcement [9], and strictly investigating and punishing those who violate discipline against the trend. We must ensure that disciplinary rules truly become "live high-voltage wires," promoting the depth and substance of discipline building through strict enforcement and providing a strong disciplinary guarantee for the development of the Party's cause.
III. Continuously Explore the Practical Path of Strict Supervision and Discipline Enforcement
The effectiveness of strict supervision and discipline enforcement is directly related to the depth and breadth of the Party’s self-revolution; it must be planned with precision and treated systematically, injecting strong momentum into the Party’s self-revolution through scientific and effective methods.
Persistence in simultaneously addressing Party spirit, Party conduct, and Party discipline to build an ideological dam against corruption. Party spirit, conduct, and discipline are an organic whole: Party spirit is the foundation, conduct is the manifestation, and discipline is the guarantee. Persisting in addressing all three and integrating the rectification of conduct, the enforcement of discipline, and the fight against corruption is an important way to drive the Party's self-revolution forward in a step-by-step manner. Various problems appearing within the Party—regardless of whether they manifest in politics, ideology, organization, conduct, or discipline—have roots in problems regarding ideals and convictions, Party spirit cultivation, official ethics, or personal character. To implement the requirements of the Party's self-revolution in the New Era and rectify conduct and discipline with a strict tone, we must combine the tempering of Party spirit, the honing of conduct, and the strictness of discipline, so that Party members and cadres take them seriously, remain alert, and "know when to stop," forming a high degree of self-awareness in following regulations and discipline. We use Party spirit education to "cast the soul," strengthening political forging and ideological transformation through deepening concentrated political rectification. This involves consciously using ideals and convictions to strengthen the foundation, using the Party’s innovative theories to arm the mind, and using excellent traditional culture to cultivate oneself and manage one’s family. We guide the vast number of Party members and cadres to build a foundation of faith, supplement their "spiritual calcium," and steady the "rudder" of their thoughts. We enhance their "Party awareness" and "purpose awareness," encouraging them to emphasize major virtues, be strict with public virtues, and guard private virtues, while valuing character and upright conduct. This ensures they remain clear-headed individuals with firm political convictions and a commitment to discipline and regulations. We use the building of Party conduct to "shape the form," unswervingly implementing the spirit of the Central Eight-Point Regulations and targeting the "Four Winds." We keep a close eye on new manifestations of formalism and bureaucratism, dig deep into the hidden mutations of hedonism and extravagance, and strictly investigate problems such as shouting empty slogans or faking results in the implementation of the Party Central Committee’s decisions. We strictly rectify "unhealthy winds" such as illegal dining and the illegal sending and receiving of gifts and money, using fine Party conduct to drive government conduct and lead social and folk customs. We use the restraint of Party discipline to "establish rules," creating a regularized and long-term mechanism for discipline education. We bridge the closed loop of "studying, knowing, clarifying, and observing" discipline, ensuring that discipline education runs through the entire growth cycle of cadres and the entire process of organizational management. We quickly and strictly investigate those who violate discipline against the trend, making those who do not stop or restrain themselves pay a price, and guiding Party members and cadres to "have awe, remain cautious, and hold the bottom line."
Promoting the integration of various supervisory methods to continuously enhance the penetration and effectiveness of supervision. Analyzing typical corruption cases investigated and handled over the years reveals an evolutionary process from quantitative to qualitative change, and from minor lapses to major transgressions; in each case, the causes can be traced back to ineffective supervision. This serves as a warning that supervision is the most powerful protection for Party members and officials. We must construct a systematic, scientific, and efficiently operating supervisory system, attaching importance to every detail and focusing on the routine, while conducting supervisory work with strictness and pragmatism. We should persist in the leadership of intra-Party supervision, strictly implement democratic centralism [10], and consolidate the supervisory responsibilities of Party organizations at all levels. We must promote the combination and complementary advantages of comprehensive supervision by Party committees, specialized supervision by commissions for discipline inspection, routine supervision by primary-level Party organizations, and democratic supervision by Party members. This ensures that supervision of subordinates by superiors, mutual supervision between peers, and supervision of superiors by subordinates are fully mobilized, guaranteeing that intra-Party supervision is implemented thoroughly and achieves practical results.
We must broaden channels for external supervision, supporting and ensuring that the National People's Congress, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and judicial organs exercise their supervisory powers in accordance with laws and regulations. We should effectively leverage the professional advantages of auditing supervision to deeply investigate integrity risks in the economic sphere, while emphasizing mass supervision and public opinion supervision. By smoothing channels for the expression and feedback of public will, we can utilize a rigorous and efficient supervisory network to achieve full-coverage "scanning" of all public officials and the entire process of power exercise. Routine supervision by Party organizations must be strengthened, persisting in moving the sentinel forward [11] by catching small issues early and when they first sprout. We must focus on regular correction and treatment as well as timely early warnings, keeping a close watch on key stages of power exercise and highlighting the "key few" [12] among leading officials. We should gain a comprehensive understanding of the daily thoughts, work, style, and private lives of Party members and officials, unifying behavioral management with ideological management. This involves organizing regular heart-to-heart talks and ideological reports, using methods such as cautionary interviews and criticism and education to promptly correct nascent or symptomatic problems. By frequently sounding the ideological alarm and calibrating behavioral deviations, we will continuously improve the penetration and effectiveness of the routine supervision exercised by Party organizations.
Persistence in the simultaneous investigation and treatment of both style issues and corruption to resolutely eradicate the soil and conditions for the breeding of corruption. Decadent styles and corruption share the same roots and are intermingled; they are prominent problems that must be addressed with focused effort in the current stage of building Party conduct, promoting integrity, and the anti-corruption struggle. Deepening the simultaneous investigation and treatment of style and corruption, and applying integrated pressure, are effective measures to sever the connection between the two and eradicate the soil where corruption thrives. We must strengthen the concept and improve the mechanisms for simultaneous investigation and disposal. This means both using "style" [the Four Winds] to unearth "corruption," and punishing "corruption" to rectify "style." We will use "simultaneous investigation" to severely punish cases where style and corruption are intertwined, "simultaneous treatment" to eradicate the common roots of both, and the integration of "investigation" and "treatment" to block the evolution from one to the other.
Persisting in investigating corruption through style issues allows us to sever the interest chains that lead from the former to the latter. Through recurring problems of conduct, we must dig deep into the underlying roots of corruption. Starting with the rectification of "Four Winds" issues closely linked to corruption—such as illicit banqueting and the unauthorized sending or receiving of gifts and red envelopes—we must deeply investigate hidden corruption problems like collusion between officials and businessmen, the transmission of interests, and power-money trades, strictly preventing "using style to mask corruption" or "catching the style but missing the corruption." We must focus on rectifying style through corruption cases, emphasizing the profound analysis of the evolutionary laws from style issues to corruption found in investigated cases. By clarifying the process of change from "losing ground on minor points" to "failing to maintain integrity on major principles," we can vigorously rectify the "circle culture" [13], privilege-seeking phenomena, and "Four Winds" issues behind these cases, thereby deepening governance with a clear target and curing chronic maladies. We must deepen the integration of treating both symptoms and root causes, persisting in using cases to promote reform and governance. The simultaneous investigation and treatment of style and corruption must be implemented across all aspects of case handling, rectification, and cautionary education. Aiming at the common and deep-seated problems discovered during the process of supervision and discipline enforcement, we should promote the reform of work models, tighten the institutional cage, and standardize the exercise of power. We must comprehensively strengthen the building of a culture of integrity in the New Era, conducting education on Party discipline and cautionary education on a routine basis to compress the space for rent-seeking from the source.
Forging a tempered workforce to enhance the quality and efficiency of strict supervision and discipline enforcement. In advancing the Party's self-revolution, the commissions for discipline inspection and oversight carry a glorious mission and heavy responsibility. They must resolutely shoulder the duty of strict supervision and discipline enforcement, consciously adhering to higher standards and stricter requirements to strive toward forging a "disciplinarian iron army" that the Party can trust and the people can rely upon. We must strengthen political loyalty, unswervingly using Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to nourish the soul. Emphasis should be placed on studying and internalizing General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important expositions on comprehensively and strictly governing the Party, deepening the Party’s self-revolution, and rectifying conduct, discipline, and corruption. Members must take the lead in strengthening political tempering and enhancing the "Three Political Powers" [14]. They must engage in bold supervision and inspection, enforcing discipline and law with an iron face [15], manifesting their sense of responsibility and interpreting their loyalty through struggle.
We must temper excellent capabilities, enhancing the awareness of the rule of law, procedures, and evidence within the discipline inspection and oversight teams. This involves comprehensively raising the policy level, disciplinary and legal literacy, and combat effectiveness of the cadre force, with a focus on strengthening their practical ability for efficient supervision, strict discipline enforcement, and precision accountability. This ensures that every instance of supervision and discipline enforcement, and every case investigated, can withstand the test of practice, the people, and history. We must achieve self-restraint by improving internal control mechanisms, guiding the broad masses of discipline inspection and oversight cadres to keep their special status in mind, cultivate professional ethics, strictly cultivate their hearts and restrain their behavior, and consciously accept the most stringent appraisal and supervision.
(Drafted by Cai Jue) Source: Qiushi (Red Flag Manuscript Edition) Issue No. 22, 2025 Editor: Huihui