Swift action needed to break nexus of corrupt families

Wang Yongjin and Wei Wu, directors of two local State-run hospitals in Changzhi, Shanxi province, were recently detained and investigated for bribery. Reports say they are husband and wife, and the woman's father is the former Party chief of the city who managed to get all his three sons-in-law high bureaucratic posts. This has raised questions about how to stop some families from dominating local politics, which breeds corruption. Comments:

China's anti-corruption measures failed to prevent group-or family-led corruption in the past, because higher authorities did not take the law seriously.

All they did was to protect lower-level officials for personal benefits. The country's leadership has vowed to promote the rule of law to end this and we hope the process is fast and successful.

Southern Metropolis Daily, Sept 2

One corrupt ruling family is enough to ruin the political ecology of an entire city because the corruption it breeds can involve more bureaucrats than one can imagine - close and distant relatives, friends, former schoolmates, even fellow villagers, might join the group led by one corrupt senior official. What happened in Changzhi is not an isolated case, and it's time similar probes were launched in other cities.

Sun Xiao'er, commentator, Sept 25

In the 1990s, many State-owned enterprises, especially those in the northeastern provinces, were ruled by families whose members promoted and supported each other to form a vicious power circle. These corrupt families held sway for almost 20 years and ruined the SOEs and the economies of the northeastern provinces.

The rule of corrupt families in other places should be stopped before it causes more harm.

Northeast News website, Sept 24