Mike Baker

It's a rather staggering figure, the highest number on record, and more than five times the number reported when Xi first took power back in 2012.

Those punishments can range from formal reprimands and demotions to expulsion from the CCP and criminal prosecution.

The Journal reviewed disciplinary statements by the party's internal watchdog involving more than 940 officials punished under Xi from 2013 through this May and found that the definition of unacceptable behavior has, and this won't surprise you, been steadily expanding.

Early in Xi's rule, for example, officials were typically punished for familiar offenses such as bribery, embezzlement, misuse of public funds, and other forms of corruption.

Today, however, the charges often extend far beyond financial wrongdoing into policing areas like general lifestyle, family values, personal conduct, and, of course, enforcing political obedience.

In other words, Xi is increasingly dropping all pretense of moderation, exposing the realities of his totalitarian control.

Officials have increasingly been accused of political disloyalty, failing to carry out Beijing's directives, resisting party policies, or forming factions and cliques that could challenge central authority.

That shift became particularly visible after the 2014 purge of Zhou Yongkan, a former security chief and one of the most powerful figures ever brought down by Xi's anti-corruption campaign.

He was expelled from the party and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

While corruption charges played a role, party investigators also accused Sho of violating what they called political discipline and engaging in disloyalty to the party, language that would become increasingly common in the years that followed.

According to the Journal, the party's disciplinary notices have since gradually transformed from relatively straightforward corruption cases into lengthy denunciations and harsh punishments.

And some of the offenses being cited are surprisingly broad, if not straight up bizarre.

More than 160 officials reviewed by the journal were accused of engaging in what the Communist Party calls superstitious activities.

Those allegations included consulting fortune tellers, seeking advice from mystics, practicing feng shui, praying to deities, or as the CCP puts it, believing in, quote, ghosts and gods rather than Marxism.

Well,

One official was reportedly punished after ordering a public fountain to be demolished and rebuilt multiple times because he believed its placement was interfering with the proper flow of fortune and energy.

He was expelled from the Communist Party and sentenced to 15 years in prison back in 2017.

Others were cited for behavior the party viewed as signs of poor discipline or questionable judgment.

Investigators documented cases involving lavish gifts, extravagant banquets, gambling, luxury spending, and even playing golf.

That's scandalous.