Corruption Drives Veteran Chinese Communist Party Official to Quit

Chinese official strives for decades to make positive changes in the dark system, but has quit the fight to avoid corruption.
Corruption Drives Veteran Chinese Communist Party Official to Quit
Piglets take a nap during the Los Angeles County Fair 2013 in Pomona, Calif., on Sept. 4, 2013. (Joe Klamar/AFP/Getty Images)
NTD Television
10/17/2013
Updated:
10/18/2013

After 33 years of striving to do something worthwhile as a Chinese Communist Party official, the deputy secretary of Changsha’s Municipal People’s Congress has quit, leaving behind what he calls the “darkness of the system.”

Mainland media interviewed Liu Yun about his departure and his career. Liu had aspirations of achieving great changes, but in retrospect, he didn’t understand the regime’s system at all.

His first job, which he obtained at the young age of 23 after graduating from Nanjing Normal University, was with the State Letters and Complaints Bureau. Liu advanced to his next position in 1987 at the Shenzhen Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, and later he became the municipal party secretary.

During that time, Liu felt the overall social and work environment was declining. “Wild extravagance, bribery, and corruption were quite common,” Liu said. So he tried his best to avoid those situations and just “become numb to it all.”

A Thorn in Their Side

In July 1992, Liu got his doctorate degree and advanced to a position with the Special Economic Zone, where he realized he lacked the basic skills necessary to be a successful government official. Thus, he proactively strived to get hired as a county committee member in Hunan.

Upon landing that position, Liu set goals to make the county a better place to live with clean politics, a developing economy, and a proper and decent social atmosphere. He considered these goals the foundation of future development. He was alone in these pursuits, and to his peers, he was a thorn in their side.

Liu was accused of damaging the local economic environment and destroying the reputations of enterprises by detaining owners of gambling businesses, confiscating luxury automobiles, and not taking bribes.

After years of working to improve the political system, in 2000 Liu came to realize that without bribery and gifts, survival in the system is virtually impossible. “If you refuse to enter the circle by giving gifts, you are unlikely to get a position, not to mention any promotion. If your position is good, how can you expect to keep it?”

Politics in Schools

In 2001, Liu was transferred from yet another position, the Municipal Economic and Trade Commission, to Changsha University, where he served as the party secretary. He thought that, compared to the political circle, schools would be relatively simple. He soon learned that the schools were infected by the same dark system.

The connection between schools and the regime was a disappointing eye-opener for Liu. On one occasion, Liu and a college principal flew to Germany to attend a seminar. The principal casually remarked, “according to the German standard, we’re criminals.”

“Take trying to get your research subject more recognition or resources as an example,” said Liu. “Can you avoid any contact with project leaders or research leaders? Absolutely not. Can you contact someone with empty hands? No, you can’t. You will be OK if no one makes trouble for you. But, if someone wants to give you a hard time, they can accuse you of bribery.”

In January 2013, after 12 years at Changsha University he left and took the position of deputy secretary of the Changsha Municipal People’s Congress.

Escaping the Pigpen

Liu recalled a saying he once heard: “Though the pigsty is dirty, pigs enjoy being there. If you can’t tolerate the dirt, you’d better not step in. Once you are in don’t try to clean it or pigs will bite you.”

At first, Liu didn’t give the saying much thought, but over time he accepted the truth of it. Eventually he decided to give up and leave.

A significant number of party members have come to understand the darkness of the CCP’s system and are creating a distance between themselves and its shadow. According to reports by the Epoch Times, over 147 million people have now quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations.

Translation by Amy Lien and Rebecca Chen. Written in English by Arleen Richards.

This article first published by New Tang Dynasty Television

Read the original Chinese article.