One Hand Covers the Sky (A Warning from the Downfall of 18 County Party Secretaries)

Author: Chen Ge
Publisher:
Publishing Date: Not available
Features: To what extent is the power of the "number one leader" unrestrained? Even forging one of his signatures could solve the long-desired promotion problems of some people; while the seemingly impenetrable cadre selection and appointment process, with this forged signature, instantly turned the "iron bucket process" into a "paper bucket process." Although the personnel fraud case in Lixin County, northern Anhui, is utterly absurd, it is a vivid example of the relationship between "number one leaders" and the system in some places. Zhang Shuguang, a Xinhua News Agency reporter who had conducted in-depth research on the special historical stage of Lixin County and tragically died on duty in April 2003, provided the author of this book with a large amount of valuable materials. In May 2002, Wu Xiaofeng and Jiang Niao, reporters from the Southern Weekly, reported on the "Lixin Storm" in detail in an article titled "Establishing New Regulations to Refuse Bribe Money, Heavy Obstacles in the Way, County Party Secretary's Reform Dies Midway." The outbreak of the "Lixin Personnel Case" was somewhat like a "movie lens." On one day in late October 2000, Xia Yisong, who had just become the county party secretary of Lixin for over a month, was working in his dormitory on the third floor of the Lixin Hotel due to a leg injury. A township leader came to visit him and reported: "Xia Secretary, the work you asked to be arranged for the students has been settled." Xia Yisong was quite puzzled because he had never entrusted anyone to arrange anything for students. In fact, after transferring from Lingbi County in northern Anhui to work in Lixin County, he had no relatives or connections locally and only lived in a simple room in the Lixin Hotel with his sick son. His son, suffering from a strange illness, could not be exposed to much sunlight, and during that period, Xia Yisong spent most of his time with his son in the room, either working or staying with him. Not only was he not waiting for students to be arranged, but even his old subordinates from Lingbi County, who came to visit him, had very limited time alone with him. At that time, he asked cautiously, "Are you sure it was arranged by me?" "There is your signature on the report." The township leader was also a bit confused. After pondering for a while, Xia Yisong couldn't remember when he had signed. He"" (there was something fishy about it), so he said, "You should quickly go to the county personnel bureau and bring the report with my signature." When Xia Yisong mentioned this incident to Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Shuguang, he sighed, "I have always been very strict with personnel issues. Fortunately, I had an extra sense of caution at the time, otherwise the consequences might have been much worse." The thick stack of reports left Xia Yisong speechless. 26 documents already archived in various departments of the county, each with his clear "signature." The report mentioned by the township leader was a job application from a student who had just graduated from a vocational school, hoping to enter a government agency. An anonymous anger burned Xia Yisong, making him unable to speak. At first glance, the handwriting on these reports was indeed somewhat "similar" to his own, indicating that the forger had put in considerable effort. Who would dare to act so recklessly under the nose of the county party secretary? To obtain compelling evidence, he immediately ordered the Lixin County Public Security Bureau to send these reports to a professional handwriting examination institution in the Anhui Provincial Public Security Department. The result was: signatures on 23 of the documents were forged! According to the "emotional understanding" journalists gathered from their interactions with Xia Yisong, he was a cautious official who rarely issued "special orders" in daily work. In different contexts, he had expressed dissatisfaction with the phenomenon of "disorderly special orders," calling it a major public harm in politics. Journalists from Xia Yisong's original post in Lingbi County and later in the Anhui Provincial Land and Resources Department confirmed that Xia Yisong had no habit of issuing "special orders" or exerting influence on subordinates for personnel issues. How many more conspiracies had not yet been discovered? Xia Yisong was both furious and aware of the severity of the situation, quickly reporting the matter to the leadership of Bozhou Municipal Committee. Soon after, the Municipal Commission of Discipline Inspection and the Public Security Bureau of Bozhou respectively launched investigations, forming a joint investigation team that rushed to Lixin County. According to Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Shuguang's materials, when over 20 disciplinary inspection and investigation cadres from the Municipal Commission of Discipline Inspection were stationed in Lixin County, the solemn atmosphere truly filled the city with a strong "sense of danger." Green complaint boxes were hung at the hotel entrance, guarded by special police, and even passersby became tense. That night, how many people in the small Lixin County could not sleep? Not only the large number of participants in the fraud and those who benefited from others' fraud, but also those who detested Lixin's corruption and hoped for a "big bang" were all silently watching in complex emotions. Later, Xia Yisong told Zhang Shuguang, "Before the issue was fully investigated, many people blamed this for being artificially created terror, causing instability, but I believe there is something more serious hidden beneath the tip of this iceberg, so I have always believed that this is not a big deal!" In fact, it is not difficult to take decisive action. The person who forged the county party secretary's signature was quickly caught by the public security organs using professional investigation methods. To everyone's "shocking" surprise, the criminal was actually a relatively "honest official" in the eyes of many people in the county—Zhang Xiangyong, the deputy party secretary of the county planning committee. The result of following the clues was even more shocking to the disciplinary inspection cadres of the investigation team. Not only were the leaders' signatures fake, but when tracing these reports, the diplomas, dispatch certificates, and archives of those with steel seals, supposedly "college students," were all forged. And these reports had all passed through the review of multiple county departments. These people with "fake education, fake identities, and fake diplomas" would have become "legally qualified high-quality national cadres" if they had not been exposed.