China builds or expands more than 200 detention centers amid Xi Jinping's growing anti-corruption campaign

The Chinese government has built or expanded more than 200 specialized detention centers to question suspects caught up in China's growing anti-corruption campaign. Xi Jinpingthe panel reveals a CNN Researchpublished this Saturday. Meanwhile, the Chinese leader is expanding his crackdown across a wide range of public sectors.

Thus, some of Las the most formidable tools used by the Chinese regime since Jinping took power in 2012, “they are used against a much broader sector of society”, from private entrepreneurs to school and hospital administrators, whether or not they are members of the 99 million people (Communist Party),” CNN reported.

The expanded detention regime, called “liuzhi” or “custodial detention,” includes facilities with padded surfaces and 24-hour guards in each cell, where Detainees can stay up to six months without ever seeing a lawyer or their family.

Among Liuzhi's most prominent inmates are Bao Fan, a billionaire banker, and Li Tie, a former English Premier League star and coach of the China men's national soccer team, who He was sentenced this month to 20 years in prison for corruption.

In this sense, CNN pointed out that at least 127 senior executives of listed companies, many of them private, were arrested in Liuzhi.and only in the last two years there have been three quarters of arrests, according to company announcements, which shows the foot on the accelerator put by Jinping in the interest of repression to maintain control of the country .

With the increase in demand for detention cells, the construction wave of these facilities has intensified in recent months, with the goal that liuzhi facilities would be more standardized and regulated than the hotels and villas that were often used for shuanggui, the repressive method used in China until 2018, when it was replaced by the current one.

An analysis of tender notices by CNN shows a slowdown in construction during the pandemic, but the number of projects increased again in 2023 and 2024. More detention centers were built and more funds allocated to provinces and regions with a higher percentage of ethnic minorities.

All holding cells, interrogation rooms and the nurse, according to government documents seen by CNN, They must have fully upholstered walls, cabinets, tables, chairs and beds, with all rounded edges for added safety.

No exposed wiring or electrical outlets are permitted. and floors should be treated with non-slip surfaces. All ceiling-mounted installations, including surveillance cameras, lights, fans and speakers, must incorporate “anti-dangle designs.” In bathrooms, stainless steel sinks and toilets must also be fully padded, while showers and surveillance cameras must be ceiling-mounted, according to CNN.

These maximized safety features are designed to prevent inmates from committing suicidea problem that had long plagued detentions under the shuanggui.

Unlike the previous method, which had no legal basis, Liuzhi is enshrined in the National Surveillance Law, introduced in 2018, which prohibits investigators from collecting evidence through illegal means, such as threats and deception; It prohibits insulting, scolding, hitting, insults and any form of corporal punishment against those under investigation. The law also requires that interrogations be videotaped.

China's opaque judicial system, which depends on the Communist Party, already boasts a conviction rate of more than 99%. But unlike criminal arrests, Liuzhi intervenes outside of the legal process and does not provide access to legal representation, raising concerns about a possible abuse of power.said the second Chinese academic who requested anonymity when consulted by CNN.

“Prolonged detention and interrogations represent “an extreme ordeal which exceeds the physical and mental limits of the inmate”, said Dacheng, a Beijing-based law firm, in a post on its social media account.

“In such extreme conditions, where body and mind are pushed to the extreme, It becomes increasingly difficult to know whether the inmate is making an “honest confession” based on facts or opting for “full cooperation” by compromising the truth under unbearable pressure.“, he concluded.