China has significantly expanded facilities for detaining suspects caught up in President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drag net, 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, now serving an unprecedented third term as president, launched the sweeping anti-corruption campaign after assuming leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 2012. Since then, more than 4,000 Party officials, ranging from low-ranking “flies” to high-ranking “tigers,” have been investigated.
China has built more than two hundred sites for officials detained during the Liuzhi government, a “custodial detention” formula outside the formal legal framework, CNN reported.
Among the high-profile detainees are former Foreign Minister Qin Gang, two former defense ministers, Li Shangfu and Wei Fenghe, and senior leaders of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, which oversees China’s nuclear arsenal.
Detainees in Liuzhi centers can be detained for up to six months without the assistance of a lawyer or family members. The centers have padded walls and committed guards who monitor detainees 24/7.
The liuzhi system in 2018 replaced the shuanggui regime, a term referring to the Party’s ability to summon and investigate members, reportedly including through the use of torture to elicit confessions.
Critics argue the new system is not a reform, however, noting it not only codifies secret detentions but also expands the scope of those investigated beyond the CCP’s 99 million members to anyone in “public power,” from civil servants to public school principals to managers of state-owned enterprises.
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 succumbed to the tension and agony. Those who resisted until the end were a small minority,” they said anonymously, fearing government reprisals.
CNN has learned of a total of 218 Liuzhi services this year and has published tender notices.
The news firm said its research of satellite imagery from Colorado-based Maxar Technologies uncovered a buildup in the structure of liuzhi services in 2023, in spaces with major ethnic minority populations.
Shizuishan in Ningxia is a striking example. The 77,000-square-foot detention center built in 2018 was expanded this year to include interrogation rooms, 30 holding 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 has contacted China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for written comment.
Sophie Richardson, visiting fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at Stanford University and former China director at Human Rights Watch:
In a social media post made on Sunday, Richardson described liuzhi as “rule-of-law-eroding,” saying: “So long as the Party maintains a stranglehold over the courts, police, and detention facilities—legal and not—and prioritizes political loyalty above all else, this will be the norm.”
“The fact that any candidate in public service could be subjected to this remedy (see the debate on the padded walls) is deeply worrying,” he added.
Xi’s anti-corruption crusade shows no signs of slowing down, with a specific focus on the military. Earlier this year, the leader called on the party to “hand over the knife” to act within the party.
The comments were made in January, but were published last week in the CCP’s political and news magazine Qiushi.
“As the scenario and responsibilities facing the party change, there will inevitably be all kinds of conflicts and disorders 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 dismissed 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 for corruption investigations.
Micah McCartney is a Newsweek Taiwan reporter based in Taipei. Covers US-China relations, security issues in East and Southeast Asia, and ties between China and Taiwan. You can contact Micah by emailing m. mccartney@newsweek. com.