China is building new detention centers all over the country as Xi Jinping widens corruption purge | CNN

China has built or expanded more than 200 specialized detention facilities nationwide to interrogate suspects in Xi Jinping’s widening anti-corruption drive.

The facilities come 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.

The expanded detention regime, named “liuzhi,” or “retention in custody” casts a much wider dragnet than shuanggui, targeting not only party members.

At least 218 liuzhi centers have been built, renovated or expanded across China to accommodate the new detention system.

The real number is likely much higher, as many local governments don’t publish tender notices online, or delete them after the bidding is finished.

The spate of construction appears to be largely driven by a surge in demand for detention cells due to the NSC ’s new broad remit.

Law requires interrogations to be recorded on video, but legal experts say it only wraps a thin veil of legality around a detention regime that operates outside the judicial system and lacks external oversight.

China ’s opaque court system, which answers to the Communist Party , already boasts a conviction rate above 99% .

Unlike criminal arrests, liuzhi takes place outside judicial process and does not allow access to legal representation.