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Preventing corruption

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-01-08 07:39

Abuse of power is an old problem that constantly takes new forms. Finding ways to prevent it is thus a never-ending task.

But high-pitched anti-corruption rhetoric is not the answer. That may well be like a big thunder that brings little rain. What matters is concrete action or a definitive strategy.

Here is an exemplary case. It was reported on Tuesday that more than 180,000 leading officials have reported to related departments about the jobs of their spouses and children. This is a sign that substantial headway is being made in building a corruption- prevention mechanism.

The figure was released by the Discipline Inspection Commission (DIC) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The progress was said to have been made since October 2007.

The number of officials being investigated or penalized has been on the increase in recent years. This is encouraging, if only in terms of the endeavor to separate the bad eggs. But, at the same time, it points to the lack of an effective corruption prevention mechanism.

Digging out corrupt elements deals only with the symptoms. And without effective ways to weed out the root cause, the symptom will emerge again.

It is now known that many corrupt officials who have fled abroad transferred their dirty fortunes to other shores through their spouses or children, who had already migrated overseas. An effective preventive mechanism would have preempted their attempts to get their booties out of the country, and their attempts to escape as well.

But it is not easy for such a mechanism to be established. Many leading officials are unwilling to accept it since that would squeeze the space for them to wield their power.

That explains why the progress has been very slow since DIC started the practice on a trial basis in 2004 for leading officials to report where their spouses and children were working and what their jobs were.

What slows down the efforts to build such a mechanism may be the absolute power in the hands of top officials in governments at various levels and departments.

To let such officials implement checks on their use of power is like letting a bird build a cage to put itself in. That is why the task of building such a mechanism should be taken up under the strict framework of law.

(China Daily 01/08/2009 page8)