In a cartoon that has been circulating on government websites and social media since last week, a family elder calls on his nephew, a village official, to prevent the construction of a telecommunications tower.
It goes on to say that the tower was destroyed by villagers, causing “damage of over 200,000 yuan (US$28,000)” and that the village official was expelled from the party.
The illustrated report, published on the WeChat account of the Organization Department of the Party Committee of east China’s Jiangsu Province on August 12, was reproduced on the social media accounts and websites of courts and anti-corruption agencies in various regions of China.
The publication described the cartoon as a “case study,” but did not disclose whether it was based on a true case – and if so, when and where the incident occurred.
The text accompanying the cartoon warned: “In recent years, a few people with evil intentions have organized themselves and used the solidarity and cooperation within the clans to oppose the party and the government.”
In many rural areas of China, where people place great value on family inheritance, clans – often made up of male relatives with the same surname – wield considerable influence.
According to China’s Law on the Organization of Village Committees, villagers can elect officials to form a committee to manage their village and decide on certain village matters by voting.
The government newspaper said last week that the clans had “formed a ‘state within a state’ that had extremely dire social consequences.” It called on party members and cadres to “consciously resist” such behavior.
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China is airing a four-part series on anti-corruption on prime-time television
China is airing a four-part series on anti-corruption on prime-time television
The new rules, which took effect this year, expanded the scope of violations and punishments, for example banning party members from reading the party’s bad history. They also reiterated the party’s rules against clan influence, including disqualifying party members who “organize and use their influence to confront the party and the government.”
In some areas with strong clan influence – such as Guangdong and Fujian provinces in southern China – and in some ethnic minority areas, village chiefs often have the same surname. Their advocacy of clan interests has challenged the introduction of party politics in the villages.
Over the years, Beijing has repeatedly called for the punishment of family clans and gangsters who have established themselves in the countryside and demanded that local governments prevent them from “undermining the political system at the lower level.”
