Beijing [China], December 28 : China has expanded over 200 specialised detention facilities across the country to interrogate suspects caught in President Xi Jinping's widening anti-corruption campaign, CNN reported on Saturday.
This move is part of Xi's efforts to extend his crackdown beyond the ruling Communist Party to various public sectors .
Since becoming president in 2012, Xi has launched a campaign to tackle corruption and remove political rivals, consolidating his control over both the party and the military. As he enters his third term, this anti-corruption drive has become a permanent feature of his open-ended rule, as per CNN.
Xi Jinping, harsh methods which used to control government officials are now being applied to a much wider group of people. These includes private entrepreneurs, school and hospital administrators - regardless of whether they are members of the 99-million-strong party.
According to CNN, the expanded detention regime, named "liuzhi," or "retention in custody," comes with facilities with padded surfaces and round-the-clock guards in every cell, where detainees can be held for up to six months without ever seeing a lawyer or family members.
It's an extension of a system long used by the party to exert control and instill fear among its members.
China's Communist Party has been conducting a secretive detention system for decades, targeting officials suspected of corruption and other misconduct.
This system, run by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), has been shrouded in secrecy, with officials being detained in undisclosed locations for months without access to legal counsel or family visits.
Notably, in 2018, amid growing criticism over widespread abuse, torture and forced confession, Xi scrapped the controversial practice known as "shuanggui," or "double designation" - a nod to the party's power to summon members for investigation at a designated time and place.
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