Many officials that have fallen in the ongoing anti-corruption campaign have written confessions looking back on what led them astray. It's clear that many did this simply so they might get a lighter sentence, as many of these confessions have the same format and similar content. Experts say the confessions could serve as warnings for other officials, but the most important thing is to draft an anticorruption law and establish effective preventive mechanisms.

Photo: CFP

"I've come to a realization today. I've come to completely recognize the severity and harm of my mistake, that anything I've done wrong to the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people will cause me to pay a price, to lose everything I have."

This is a quote from the confession of Zhang Yin, former vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee of Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. He went on to say that "I think back to these years' changes and look deep into my soul. The deeper I dig, the more clearly I can see my rotten roots."

Zhang's confession was the first one posted on the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC (CCDI), the Party's discipline watchdog. This section of the website was launched in February and contains analyses of major corruption cases and the confessions of officials who were dealt with by the CCDI.

The wrong values

In January, Wang Qishan, head of the CCDI, requested that all officials who were found guilty of serious violations since the 18th CPC National Congress - held in November 2012 - should be made to write confessions, in order for them to look back on their mistakes and to provide a warning to others. As of press time, there have been six updates to the site, with 11 former officials' confessions publicly displayed. Many more were published by other media outlets.

According to the Phoenix Weekly, the corrupt officials' confessions were not only made into brochures, but also documentaries, to be shown at educational seminars held for officials of all levels.      

After watching a documentary on corruption, a local official wrote "It's easy to see that all those lawbreakers had wrong values driven by their expanding greed … they warn officials of all levels with their honest voices that we must stay firm in the face of temptation."

Corrupt former officials who write confessions may see their sentences reduced.       

 "With the confession, the procuratorate might see that they have a good attitude, so that judge might take a few months or even a year off their sentence," said Liu Tao, a prosecutor in Guizhou Province.

Furthermore, some experts believe such confessions can help governments think about loopholes in the law, policies and the system, to improve anticorruption measures.

Copycat crooks

But these hopes are based on the assumption that these confessions contain unique and insightful information. In reality, many of them are very similar, with the same format and content, according to the Phoenix Weekly.

The former official usually starts by introducing their background, saying they come from an ordinary family, then explaining how they went to school or joined the military and later became an official. They also tend to stress their achievements.

For example, Liu Tienan, the former deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body, was sentenced to life in prison in 2014. It was revealed that he and his family had taken more than 2.4 billion yuan ($377 million) worth of bribes.

He wrote in his confessions, "I entered the CPC in 1976. After more than 10 years of the Party's education and training, I went step by step from being a steel worker to a leader, with the trust of the Party and expectations of the people."

Shi Lianwen, former director of Liaoning Radio and Television, wrote detailed achievements, listing out all the awards and medals he has received.

"At that time, I worked hard for the Party. I was excited whenever I gained honor and awards," he wrote.

Yu Ruiting, law expert at Shanxi University, pointed out in an analysis that only through bragging about their past achievements can they beg for forgiveness.

Next, they tell the story of the first time they took a bribe. The bribe is usually small and they felt bad about it, but gradually they started taking more.

Gu Weihe, former vice county governor of Sheyang, Jiangsu Province, wrote, "The manager of a construction company came by my office and gave me a bag before leaving. I opened it and found 100,000 yuan in cash. My heart immediately started thumping and my scalp went numb. It was the first time I had gotten my hands on that much cash."

Lastly, they usually write about they deeply regret the mistake and look back to think on how to prevent others making such mistakes.

Zhang Yin wrote that the main thing that led him to be corrupt was his "lack of attention to studies."

"I put the Party disciplinary book and law books on my bookcase, without ever reading them. I treated Party-organized training trips as retreats and never paid any attention," he wrote.

Liu Tienan was more dramatic. He read his confession during his trial and cried in the courtroom.

"Every morning I wake up [in jail] I ask myself, where is this place? How could I have fallen so far? I can't face my dead father, I can't face my mother, who's sick and confined to bed. I feel sorry for my wife and I've ruined my child."

In the end, the confessions usually conclude with "I beg the Party and people to give me a second chance." But this hope is farfetched at best.

Vague and hollow

Lu Qun, deputy director of the Hunan Province CCDI anticorruption office, has read thousands of confessions.

As a member of local CCDI, he has participated in many activities which attempt to warn officials about corruption and has visited former officials in prison to talk about their road to corruption and to find loopholes in China's anti-graft system.

Right now, most of the confessions, including the publicly displayed ones, are vague and empty and some were even plagiarized, he told the Phoenix Weekly.

Admittedly, the publicly displayed ones are for educational purposes and some paragraphs may have been taken out, but that doesn't change the fact they are hollow generally.

"I've even read some confessions that conclude with the official saying that they hope to get a lighter sentence, which shows their true intention," Lu told the Phoenix Weekly. For example, an official who has taken more than 1.4 million yuan of bribes wrote in his confession that he hopes to retire and live in his hometown.

But even so, these confessions can serve some other purposes. Lu told the Phoenix Weekly some universal rules he has uncovered from these confessions. For example, if officials don't pay attention to details, they will most certainly end up making mistakes.

Furthermore, using these confessions and other documentaries to warn other officials is a good way to prevent corruption, but it can only be a supplementary method, Lu said. The core way to solve the problem still lies in legal measures.

Lu has personally talked to Li Dalun, former secretary of the Party committee of Chenzhou, Hunan Province. He participated in a few educational conventions for officials and watched documentaries about corruption. In 2002, he even wrote a poem while attending a convention, in which he expressed his determination to stay honest.

He was sentenced to death with two years of probation in 2006 for taking massive bribes. When Lu visited him in prison and talked about the poem he wrote, Li admitted that while writing the poem, he actually was determined to be an honest man and devote himself to clean politics.

But in 2003, he hit a roadblock in his career and felt it didn't matter if he could rise to a high position, money alone is what matters the most. He started taking bribes.

What's lacking in the Chinese system is a specific anticorruption law, Lu said. Right now, officials still rely on moral education and loose supervision to curb corruption.

"But during the fourth plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in 2014, it was brought forth that China will push for establishing anticorruption laws and effective mechanisms," he told the Phoenix Weekly. "I hope it can be put on the agenda as soon as possible."

Phoenix Weekly

Confessions of corrupt officials



Every morning I wake up [in jail] and I ask myself, where is this place? How could I have fallen so far? I can't face my dead father, I can't face my mother, who's sick and confined to bed. I feel sorry for my wife and I've ruined my child.

Liu Tienan, former deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission

I put the Party disciplinary book and law books in my bookcase, without ever reading them. I treated Party-organized training trips as retreats and never paid any attention.

Zhang Yin, former vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee of Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province

Every time I saw the abundant profit [entrepreneurs] receive after completing a project or an investment, I feel they lead full, meaningful lives. I feel that being an official is a painful job.

Zhu Fulin, former deputy mayor of Jinhua, Zhejiang Province

I desperately wanted to do something for my brother, but as a civil servant I didn't have a penny. How could I repay him? With power, only power … In project after project, I illegally won profits for myself and my brother.

Xu Mengjia, former secretary of the Party committee of Ya'an, Sichuan Province

I lost my discipline, and as my understanding of society deepened, I eventually lost my conscience as well. Why should I refuse the bribes? The bribers didn't earn their money through hard work either, and I even found it necessary to take them. In the beginning I sought bribes for work, but later I began to seek money for my life after retirement.

Shi Lianwen, former director of Liaoning Radio and Television Station