China’s Televised Confessions Expose Political Side of Anti-Corruption Campaign: Experts

Experts say a retired senior official’s TV confession before trial shows that China’s anti-corruption drive serves as political control more than due process.

Xu Xianping, a former member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership group and former vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, appears in a CCP anti-corruption documentary-style broadcast. Video screenshot by The Epoch Times

When a long-retired Chinese official appeared on state television this month to confess his alleged corruption, the message was not primarily about law enforcement. For critics, it was a reminder that China’s anti-corruption campaign remains as much a political instrument as a judicial one—designed to intimidate elites and reinforce loyalty, rather than uphold due process.

Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Jan. 12 aired footage of Xu Xianping, a former vice minister and the ex-deputy head of the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), delivering a remorseful statement in a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) anti-corruption documentary. Xu, who retired years ago, had not yet faced a public trial.

In the program, Xu echoed familiar slogans used in past televised confessions, warning of the dangers of “greed” and officials who “retire but do not withdraw from power.” He concluded with lines such as, “The world is strange—I only understood it after retirement,” and, “In the end, I lost the most precious thing of all, freedom.”

To many Chinese observers, the scene followed a well-worn pattern—a senior official publicly shamed on national television, before any court verdict, in a production overseen by CCP propaganda authorities.

‘Political Humiliation Disguised as Anti-Corruption’

A retired researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who spoke to The Epoch Times using the pseudonym Feng Qin due to safety reasons, said that such televised confessions have little to do with normal judicial practice.

“This is not a trial, it’s a public spectacle,” Feng said. “Before any court ruling, a person is already labeled guilty in front of the entire country. That’s political humiliation disguised as anti-corruption.”

Feng noted that he had lived and traveled abroad extensively and had never seen anything comparable in other legal systems.

“In what era are we still doing this?” he asked. “This is regression, not progress.”

A former Chinese media professional, speaking on condition of anonymity for safety reasons, told The Epoch Times that the content of this televised confession was scripted.

“The language is emotional, slogan-driven, and vague,” he said. “You rarely hear concrete facts. It sounds like prewritten lines meant for the audience, not a spontaneous statement from the person involved.”

Questions Over Due Process

Xu’s appearance sparked skepticism online, particularly because he retired years earlier and has yet to undergo a public trial. Chinese netizens questioned why he was presented as guilty before any judicial ruling, warning that the practice further weakens protections against abuse of power.

Adding to the controversy, a related report previously published by Phoenix Television, a Chinese media outlet with state ties, later disappeared. Visitors attempting to access the page now encounter a 404 error.

According to official records, Xu stepped down as NDRC vice chairman in 2015, formally retired in 2023, and was placed under CCP disciplinary and state supervision in March 2025. He was expelled from the CCP in November of that year. His televised confession came before any court judgment and was broadcast nationwide by the party’s propaganda media.

Warning to Retired Officials

In the documentary, Xu was portrayed as a textbook example of “retiring without restraint.” The program alleged that after moving to a secondary role, he continued to profit from his former influence through intermediaries and family members—accepting high-end home renovations, utility and housekeeping services, an older Mercedes-Benz sedan, and small equity stakes held by relatives.

U.S.-based Chinese political commentator Cai Shenkun wrote in a Jan. 13 post on X that Xu was “treated rather unjustly.”

Cai said that after leaving the NDRC, Xu served for years as a policy adviser to former Premier Li Keqiang. After Li’s political marginalization following the CCP’s 20th Congress in 2022—and his subsequent death—figures linked to his network lost protection. Xu’s corruption case was revived soon afterward, Cai noted.

“The main reason Xu was taken down was not so-called corruption, but his political alignment, which had long rankled Xi Jinping,” Cai wrote.

Political Intimidation

A Chinese journalist from Hunan province, who spoke to The Epoch Times using the pseudonym Zhao Xin due to safety concerns, said that the impact of televised confessions often exceeds that of formal punishment.

“Xu’s investigation itself is one thing,” Zhao said. “Dragging someone onto national television is another. That’s a public warning, not just to punish you, but to scare everyone else.”

Sun Zhengcai shown on Chinese state television at his court trial in Tianjin, China, on April 12, 2018. Screenshot via Reuters

He recalled a similar episode in 2018, when former Politburo member Sun Zhengcai appeared in an anti-corruption documentary-style broadcast confessing to being “disloyal to the party” and “expanding political ambitions”.  

A Beijing-based scholar who spoke to The Epoch Times using the pseudonym Li Yun said that televised confessions fundamentally contradict basic legal principles.

“In a normal legal system, guilt is determined by courts through public trials,” Li said. “Here, propaganda departments deliver the verdict first. That negates the presumption of innocence,” he said.

“This isn’t judicial procedure. It’s political labeling in advance.”

Xin Ling contributed to this report.