Corruption
'Anti-graft' fight is
hottest online topic
Updated: 2014-12-26 07:37
By
Cao Yin(China Daily USA)
Top 10 online news issues in 2014. Tian Chi / China Daily
|
The fight against
corruption has become the hottest online topic this year in China, according to
reports released on Thursday by several cyberspace opinion research centers
Anti-graft campaigns
conducted by disciplinary authorities have been speeded up since the start of
the year.
These have triggered
widespread public attention and demonstrated the leadership's determination to
build an anti-corruption system, according to a report from the Internet Media
Reseach Center.
Information on trials
involving officials who have been investigated - and their sentences -
frequently stirs heated discussion on the Internet, said Hua Qing, deputy
director of the center.
Zhu Huaxin,
secretary-general of the Department of Public Opinion Monitoring on
people.com.cn, said the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's website
has played a key role in pushing the anti-graft issue online.
"The commission
has taken the initiative to inspect officials and post related information
publicly since its website opened in September 2013," Zhu said.
Zhu and his team
select key issues from micro blog platforms, online forums and mainstream media
every day.
Major cases involving
corrupt officials, such as former energy chief Liu Tienan, drew instant public
attention and news of his sentence went viral online, according to a report by
Zhu's team.
Liu, 60, was sentenced
to life imprisonment for bribery earlier this month by a court in Hebei
province.
It found Liu guilty of
receiving bribes worth 35.5 million yuan ($5.8 million) between 2002 and 2012,
when he was a department chief and later vice-minister of the National
Development and Reform Commission, the nation's top economic planner.
After the case of Zhou
Yongkang, former top security chief, was exposed on July 30, discussion appeared
on 1.33 million micro blogs related to it, the report said.
Li Weining, an analyst
at the Internet Information Research Institute at Communication University of
China, said the anti-graft campaign and related news were the hottest items
online this year.
The institute, which
has more than 100 employees and was established in 2008, monitors website home
pages, WeChat, micro blogs and smartphone apps every day and then places
popular topics on a database.
"We can collect
at least 5,000 topics a year, and we'll select and analyze the hotter ones from
among them," Li said.
Shen Yang, an analyst
and professor at Tsinghua University who specializes in communications,
welcomed the government publishing information on anti-graft initiatives,
saying that official disclosures can reduce rumors.
"In other words,
if we can fight against corruption effectively in reality, online reports or
tipoffs will be reduced," Shen said, suggesting that disciplinary
authorities handling graft cases verify online reports quickly.
In this way, Internet
users will also learn self-discipline in posting online, he added.
Anti-terrorism
measures, the rule of law and cybersecurity have also been hot issues this
year, sparking heated online discussion.
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