The military department responsible for buying China's weapons has launched a crackdown on corrupt procurement practices dating back years, issuing a call for tip-offs on "favouritism," collusion and other problematic behaviours. The Central Military Commission's technology development body on Wednesday urged the public to report violations in procurement activities dating back to 2017, "in order to create a good ecosystem for equipment procurement, bidding and evaluation". The CMC's Equipment Development Department posted on WeChat about eight types of violations targeted by the probe, including "actively leaking secrets", "lack of supervision" and "unfair handling of matters". Xi, who broke longstanding political precedent to seal a third term as China's leader last year, has made tackling corruption a centrepiece of his decade-long rule. Chinese authorities have depicted the policy as a much-needed cleansing of state organs, but critics contend that it is also a vehicle for Xi to purge political rivals.

Source: The Standard July 27, 2023 23:30 UTC