Anti-graft storm continues

It is not too much to call 2013 the year of an anti-corruption storm.

Altogether since January, 16 officials above vice-minister level have been placed under investigation for abuse of power. Of them, two are full members of the Party's central committee. By the end of June, 87 bureau level officials were also probed for abuse of power.

But the campaign is not just to apprehend corrupt elements, it also targets all unhealthy practices and tendencies in all government departments and Party institutions.

Apart from the rules to ban the wasting of public money on extravagant receptions, unnecessary official trips abroad and the use of government cars, the Party's discipline inspection commission announced a ban on the purchasing and making of New Year greeting cards with public funds as 2013 draws to its close.

Immediately after that, the commission announced on Tuesday that Party members and officials are not allowed to visit private clubs, which is believed to be the venue where officials enjoy extravagant banquets or even sex services at the public expense.

All these have demonstrated not only the new leadership's resolve to root out corruption but also the severity of the abuse of power among officials, which is a hindrance to the progress of the country.

The decisions adopted at the Party's Third Plenum in November are meant to intensify all-around reform for the sustainability of the country's economic development and social progress.

Top leader Xi Jinping made it clear in his speech on the fight against corruption that rooting out abuses of power is a prerequisite for the realization of the Chinese Dream, which epitomizes residents' happiness and the nation's prosperity.

What the Party's watchdog and anti-graft departments have done this year paves the way for the reforms in various areas to unfold smoothly in the years to come.

But it would be wrong to think the anti-corruption storm is an expedient battle that will soon blow itself out.

Xi said that power must be kept in the cage of rules. Obviously there still is a long way to go before the cage is complete and power placed in it.

What has been achieved this year is just the beginning. With the deepening of reforms, more harsh actions can be expected to place power under tight supervision.

(China Daily 12/25/2013 page8)