China's Xi calls on party to 'turn knife inward' to end corruption

BEIJING - China's Communist Party must "turn the knife inward" to eliminate problems of discipline, including corruption, President Xi Jinping said, a new call to hunt down corrupt officials and those who corrupt them.

Since coming to power over a decade ago, Xi has cracked down on corruption involving party members, whether they were corrupt high-ranking "tigers" or lowly "flies" who failed to implement government policies.

But despite the sweeping crackdown, the party continues to be plagued by graft, particularly within the armed forces. Two former defence ministers have been purged from the party in the past two years for "serious violations of discipline", a euphemism for corruption.

The party must take counter-measures against any interest group, organisation of power, or privileged class from preying on or corrupting party members, Xi warned in a speech published on Monday by Qiushi Journal, a flagship party magazine.

"As the situation and tasks facing the party change, there will inevitably be all kinds of conflicts and problems within the party," he said.

"We must have the courage to turn the knife inward and eliminate their negative impact in a timely manner to ensure that the party is always full of vigour and vitality."

Xi's call to "turn the knife inward" was part of a speech he gave at a major meeting with the party's anti-graft watchdog on Jan. 8, but had not been disclosed previously.

The excerpts published on Monday suggest a renewed and wider push to instil discipline and hunt down officials seeking personal gain and those who lead them astray.

Last month, the defence ministry disclosed that an admiral who had served on the Central Military Commission, the country's highest-level military command body, was under investigation for "serious violations of discipline".

Last year, about 610,000 party officials were punished for violating party discipline, of which 49 were officials above the vice minister or governor level, according to statistics from the party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)