CRI听力:CPPCC No Harbor for Corrupt Officials: Spokesman

Hundreds of Chinese and foreign journalists gathered at the very first press conference ahead of CPPCC's annual session.

Spokesperson Lyu Xinhua says China's national political advisory body has no room for corrupt officials.

Last year, two vice chairmen of the CPPCC National Committee, Ling Jihua and Su Rong, were investigated for corruption.

"Here I want to say that the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference is no harbor for corrupt officials. We fully support the investigation into those corrupt officials who have violated rules and might break the law. Although most of their violations did not occur during their tenure as leading national political advisors, the cases have affected the image of the CPPCC. As such, the Party will upgrade and overhaul anti-corruption measures."

A CPPCC meeting over the weekend saw the removal of Ling Jihua from his post, and his membership to the country's top political advisory body has also been stripped.

Also, Su Roog is being investigated by the Supreme People's court over allegations of accepting huge bribes.

Commenting on media reports that there might be "bigger tigers", or senior-level corrupt officials, brought down in the country's anti-corruption drive, Lyu says China's anti-corruption effort "has no limit or ceiling" and "no one has impunity.

On the subject of terrorism, Lyu says China has set the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) as a major target, as violence and terrorism have been on the rise in recent years, especially in Xinjiang.

"China set the Eastern Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) as the major target when seeking international cooperation against terrorism last year. Meanwhile, the country has set up counter-terrorism cooperation with more than 10 countries and has engaged in information sharing, intelligence verification, case cooperation, and capacity building."

Speaking of the ongoing constitutional reform in Hong Kong, Lyu says Chinese government's stance is "clear and consistent".

"The central government unswervingly supports the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in developing democracy in an orderly and gradual manner. It also supports Hong Kong in achieving universal suffrage in the election of a new Chief Executive in 2017, according to the Hong Kong Basic Law and decisions made by the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee."

During the first press conference of the upcoming sessions, Lv also hailed internal improvements to the CPPCC as the national political advisory body, featuring its "biweekly panel discussions".

Chinese basketball sensation Yao Ming's sports reform proposal raised during the "biweekly discussion" is likely to be addressed during this year's annual session.

This year's CPPCC annual session will kick off tomorrow and run until March 13th.

For CRI, I am Wang Mengzhen.