China's top leaders gather to tighten discipline before key election

Chinese Communist party officials are set to meet this week to address growing concerns about internal discipline. The gathering serves as a final check on party loyalty before the selection of a new leadership body next year. Tensions are high as the party looks to solidify its control.

Xi Jinping took office in 2012 with a promise to eliminate corruption across the party ranks. More than a decade later, the pace of investigations remains intense. Last year, disciplinary authorities opened cases against over 1 million individuals. That group included more than 100 officials holding ministerial or provincial level positions.

The fifth plenum begins on Monday. State media indicates the session will focus on major issues regarding the party's self-governance. In party terminology, governance refers to discipline, loyalty, and anti-corruption efforts. The meeting brings together more than 300 members of the Central Committee, the most senior tier of the party hierarchy.

This is the fifth of seven scheduled gatherings in the current five-year cycle. It is likely the last substantive meeting before the 21st Party Congress next year. At that congress, a new Central Committee will be chosen. Xi is expected to secure a fourth term as the head of the party during that event.

Recent purges have left the party's military leadership thinned out. In January, Zhang Youxia, the top general and second in command of the military, was placed under investigation. He was expelled from the party last month after being removed from the Central Military Commission. The commission, which usually has seven members, now has only two: Xi and Zhang Shengmin, the head of discipline.

Other recent investigations have targeted Ma Xingrui, the former party secretary for Xinjiang, and Huang Qifan, the former mayor of Chongqing. Huang had previously survived political scandals linked to the case of Bo Xilai. Bo was convicted of bribery and embezzlement and is serving a life sentence, but Huang has now been removed.

Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King's College London, noted that in Xi's worldview, corruption and political disloyalty are closely linked. He stated, "If you're corrupt, you're not politically loyal. If you're politically loyal, you're not corrupt." Brown added that the party views corruption as both material and spiritual, with the latter including political disloyalty.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society, said Xi has strengthened his control but knows punishment alone does not solve the issue. He noted that Xi's answer is to keep tightening discipline, making anti-corruption a permanent method of governing. Brown described these investigations as the most easy and natural tool by which to enforce unity and discipline within the party.

Xi has previously warned that the party could lose its ruling status if it failed to maintain internal order. He described that risk as not being an exaggeration. The current focus on governance comes as the party prepares to define its direction for the next five-year cycle.