Always on the Road

Always on the Road (Chinese: 永远在路上; pinyin: Yǒngyuǎn Zài Lùshàng), sometimes also translated as Never Ending Anti-Corruption Struggle, is an eight part television miniseries produced jointly by the propaganda department of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) and China Central Television (CCTV).^[1] Released after the CCP's 18th National Congress, the program's primary focus is the CCP's crackdown under Xi Jinping against corruption in China by showcasing its prosecution of high level corrupt officials.^[1]

Always on the Road
Simplified Chinese	永远在路上
Hanyu Pinyin	Yǒngyuǎn zài lùshàng
Created by	Central Commission for Discipline Inspection
Country of origin	China
Original language	Mandarin
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	8

The program ran for one season, broadcast between 17 October 2016 and 25 October 2016 at 21:30 on CCTV-1. The entire show was immediately available online as it aired for free on the CCDI's official website,^[2] as well as on Youku^[3] and YouTube, where it was uploaded by the CCTV's official account.^[4]

Name

According to Chinese state-run media, the name of the miniseries was meant to allude to the fact that China's anti-corruption drive is "longlasting".^[5] The name of the miniseries came from a quote said during a speech Chinese core leader Xi Jinping gave on January 12, 2016:^[6] "全面从严治党永远在路上。各级党组织要担负起全面从严治党主体责任。"^[7] ["The Chinese Communist Party is always working towards strict and comprehensive governance. Party organizations at all levels need to rise together and bear the responsibilities of strict governance."]

Episode

No.	Original title[2]	Pinyin
1	人心向背	Rénxīn xiàngbèi
2	以上率下	Yǐshàng lǜ xià
3	踏石留印	Tà shí liú yìn
4	利剑出鞘	Lì jiàn chū qiào
5	把纪律挺在前面	Bǎ jìlǜ tǐng zài qiánmiàn
6	拍蝇惩贪	Pāi yíng chéng tān
7	天网追逃	Tiān wǎng zhuī táo
8	标本兼治	Biāoběn jiānzhì

People featured

Each episode features multiple convictions of allegedly corrupt Chinese Communist Party officials. Over 77 officials were featured, among whom were:

• Zhou Yongkang (former Politburo Standing Committee member and Secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission) (Episode 1)
• Bai Enpei (former Party Committee Secretary of Yunnan Province) (Episode 1)
• Zhou Benshun (former Party Committee Secretary of Hebei Province) (Episode 1)
• Li Chuncheng (former Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Sichuan Province) (Episode 1)
• Gu Chunli (former vice governor of Jilin Province) (Episode 2)
• Wan Qingliang (former Party Committee Secretary of Guangdong Province and mayor of Guangzhou) (Episode 2)
• Wang Tianpu (former president of Sinopec, a state-owned energy company) (Episode 3)
• Yang Weize (former Party Committee Secretary of the city of Nanjing) (Episode 3)
• Nie Chunyu (former Party Committee Secretary of Shanxi Province) (Episode 4)
• Su Rong (former vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference as well as former Party Committee Secretary of Qinghai, Gansu, and Jiangxi provinces) (Episode 4)
• Lü Xiwen (former Deputy Communist Party Secretary of Beijing) (Episode 5)
• Tan Qiwei (former vice-mayor of Chongqing) (Episode 8)
• Liu Tienan (former director of the National Energy Administration and deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission) (Episode 8)
• Deng Qilin (former CEO of the Wuhan Iron and Steel Group) (Episode 8)
• Jiang Jiemin (former director of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission) (Episode 8)

Reception

Chinese state-run media, such as Xinhua and China Daily, released statements of glowing praise for the program, writing it "had the power" to "make the [anti-corruption] message really hit home."^[5]

Chris Buckely of The New York Times released a mostly positive review of the series, but noted that there were "limits to candor", such as the brief mentions of the highest convicted corrupt officials such as Zhou Yongkang. Further, Buckley noted that certain elements of corruption in China, such as the trading of military promotions and sex trafficking, went unmentioned, while the program mainly focused on gifts of luxury food products such as crocodile tail.^[8] Their review also mentioned that many Chinese Communist Party officials were ordered to watch the show.^[8]

Other Western media were harsher with their reviews. Quartz accused the CCP of forcing confessions to create the program.^[9]

References

1. "中纪委反腐纪录片《永远在路上》" [Details of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's anti-corruption TV series "Always on the Road"]. Sina Online News (in Chinese (China)). 18 October 2016. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
2. "八集大型电视专题片《永远在路上》" [Eight episodes of large scale TV series "Always on the Road"]. ccdi.gov.cn (in Chinese (China)). Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
3. "永遠在路上 – 搜库". Youku Search Results. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
4. CCTV纪录 (2016-10-22), 永远在路上 第一集 人心向背（白恩培周本顺李春城忏悔）, retrieved 2017-08-05
5. "China's anti-corruption campaign "always on the road"". Xinhua News. 28 October 2016. Archived from the original on October 29, 2016. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
6. Huang, Echo (26 April 2017). "China's Communist Party has a new role model for its members, and he's an imperial bureaucrat". Quartz. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
7. "全面从严治党永远在路上 ——学习习近平总书记关于全面从严治党的重要论述" ["The CCP's must be thorough and strict at every juncture." On the Important Thought of General Secretary Xi Jinping]. Xinhua (in Chinese (China)). 2 February 2016. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
8. Buckley, Chris (2016-10-21). "Corruption in China: Crocodile Meat, Jade, Piles of Cash". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-08-05.
9. Huang, Echo; Steger, Isabella (18 October 2016). "Coming to you in an eight-part TV series: forced confessions by allegedly corrupt Chinese officials". Quartz. Retrieved 2017-08-05.