Thailand’s military junta ordered a fresh sweep of 6,000 corrupt “influential people” Wednesday, the latest move by a regime that has touted a tough anti-graft stance, but with limited success.

The kingdom is known for its nexus of graft-tainted officials, underground mafia and shady patronage networks, something the ruling junta has vowed to tackle, even though the military has long been tarred by such allegations.

Intelligence officers across the country have now compiled a list of some 6,000 “influential people” – a Thai phrase used to describe mafia bosses and other powerful figures dealing in illegal trades.

The blacklisted, which include government and security officials, are suspected of aiding a variety of crime syndicates, deputy prime minister General Prawit Wongsuwon told reporters Wednesday, without elaborating on the nature of the crimes.

“There are 6,000 people in these networks, some are government officials,” he said, adding that the crackdown would be wrapped up in the next two months.

The generals that grabbed power in a 2014 coup have sought to burnish a reputation as crime-busters, trumpeting periodic – and often short-lived – crackdowns on everything from gambling rings to drunk drivers.

The regime has also suppressed free speech, detained scores of political dissidents and sidelined allies of the government it toppled.

But Prawit stressed that the latest clampdown on “influence” was aimed at criminals, not critics.

“The crackdown is not concentrated on a particular group of politicians,” he said.

Many in Thailand’s top echelons of power are tainted by some history of graft.

As relations sour and political winds shift, sudden purges can see senior figures fall from grace with a swiftness often baffling to observers.

Paul Chambers, a Thailand-based academic and expert on the military, said the junta’s latest purge suggests a growing “siege mentality” as the administration seeks to rationalise its continued grip on power two years after the coup.

“The economy is tanking, there are droughts across the northeast, there are so many difficulties, so they are perceiving enemies on all sides,” he said.

The junta assumed control of the country amid anti-government protests in May 2014 vowing to end 10 years of political turmoil.

But critics say the regime is more concerned with maintaining the military elite’s political influence in the kingdom.

China is taking a “distinctly Chinese approach” to national security with a raft of new laws, including one on counterterrorism, the third-ranked leader said on Wednesday, offering a strong rebuttal to Western criticism.

The U.S., Canadian, German and Japanese ambassadors signed a letter dated Jan. 27, voicing unease about the counterterrorism law, the draft cyber security law and a draft law on management of foreign non-governmental organisations.

The ambassador of the European Union Delegation to China sent a letter expressing similar concerns.

The cyber security and counterterrorism laws codify sweeping powers for the government to combat perceived threats, from widespread censorship to heightened control over certain technologies.

Critics of the counterterrorism legislation, for one, say that it could be interpreted in such a way that even non-violent dissidents could fall within its definition of terrorism.

Zhang Dejiang, who heads China’s largely rubber-stamp parliament, told its annual session that China had laid “a solid legal foundation for accelerating the establishment of a national security system and taking a distinctly Chinese approach to national security”. “In the face of a grave and complex situation in the fight against terrorism both at home and abroad, it is of crucial importance that China intensifies its anti-terrorism activities,” Zhang said. “The improvements to our counterterrorism laws will be of great importance for preventing and punishing terrorist activities according to law, for safeguarding national and public security and for protecting lives and property.” He made no direct mention of the criticism.

This year China will “work on” the foreign NGO law and cyber-security law, Zhang added, without giving a timeframe for when they might be passed.

China has blamed attacks in its violence-prone far western region of Xinjiang on Islamist militants, though rights groups and exiles say anger at Chinese controls on the religion and culture of the Uighurs is more to blame for the unrest. China denies any repression in Xinjiang.

China also says it faces a threat from Xinjiang radicals travelling to the Middle East to join groups like Islamic State.