Vital lessons from Zhou's case

Along with the announcement of Zhou's case came the news that his son Zhou Bin, a businessman long under investigation on suspicion of trading power for profit, was formally arrested. This is a typical corruption case: while an official strives for higher and more powerful posts, the son uses his father's influence and powers to make huge profits on the pretext of running a business. It is highly likely that anti-corruption officials will lay more emphasis on such corruption cases, which are usually difficult to unearth.

The investigation against Zhou covers a large number of officials in State-owned enterprises, such as oil giant China National Petroleum Corporation, and the judiciary department, the two areas where corruption is most rampant. If corrupt officials in SOEs escape punishment, they could nullify the Chinese leadership's efforts to build a market economy.

Last year, the central leadership said that reforms are being deepened to allow the market to play a decisive role in the allocation of resources and facilitate China's integration into the world economy. Neither of these aims can be fulfilled without rooting out corruption from the SOEs.

Corruption in the judiciary is even more destructive, because it could strike at the very root of the State's credibility and social justice. It will be difficult for people to trust the government or believe in the rule of law if the judiciary fails to deliver justice. Moreover, corruption in the judiciary can harm the anti-corruption drive - there are examples of corrupt officials receiving lighter sentences than they deserved or being paroled after serving short sentences.

The thorough investigation into Zhou's case is also expected to unearth corruption in the judiciary and suggest how to eliminate it, facilitating further reforms in the SOEs and the judiciary.

But more needs to be done. While the hunting down of a big "tiger" like Zhou is an achievement for the anti-corruption campaign, the fact that such a big "tiger" exists is proof that there are loopholes in our corruption-prevention system.

China, therefore, needs to establish a long-term mechanism based on the rule of law to fight corruption and prevent small "flies" from evolving into big "tigers". Only such a mechanism can root out corruption and pave the way for China's long-term development.

The author is deputy director of the Clean Governance Institute, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

(China Daily 08/02/2014 page5)