Curbing corruption

Incessant anti-corruption efforts and full recognition of the task's links to its own fate have shown how seriously the Communist Party of China takes the problem.

More than 660,000 Party members have been punished for disciplinary violations between November 2007 and June this year; and more than 24,000 of them transferred to judicial authorities for suspected crimes.

These figures are proof that the CPC is serious about corruption in its own ranks and testify to an obvious sense of urgency in dealing with widely hated abuses of power.

The expulsion of Bo Xilai, the former Chongqing Party chief and a former member of the CPC Political Bureau, from the Party is justifiably cited as evidence of the CPC's determination to bring to justice anyone who dares to trample on Party disciplines or State laws.

It is good that the Party has fully realized the severity of the anti-corruption task. At its eighth plenary session concluded on Sunday, the 17th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC issued the warning that "anti-corruption is still a long-term, complicated and tough battle" and that the whole Party is confronted with the challenge.

Despite complaints about the presence of corruption in broader social areas in recent years, the public has extended its endorsement to the Party's vows of zero tolerance toward corruption.

According to a recent survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics, 72.7 percent of the people polled were satisfied or relatively satisfied with anti-corruption work in 2011, a sharp rise from the 51.9 percent in 2003.

But that does not mean the Party can rest on its laurels. People want to see more resolve and efficiency in fighting corruption.

From the establishment of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention to the promulgation of a series of regulations and codes of conduct for Party members, the CPC has in place a comprehensive system to deal with corruption.

It is encouraging that it has pledged greater efforts to improve its system of preventing and punishing corruption. But the CPC's keen awareness of the threat of corruption and its resolve to eliminate it must be translated into the further effective operation of such mechanisms.

(China Daily 11/06/2012 page8)