Structural balance to curb graft

Some have suggested granting privileges to disciplinary commissions, such as promoting the administrative rank of the heads above that of the Party committee heads. But that will only help corruption spread to the disciplinary commissions, because it creates a new center for the concentration of power, instead of maintaining a power balance.

For example, if a provincial disciplinary commission is given privileges over the provincial Party committee, the latter could simply share its illegal profits with the former in exchange for security. Thus with no one supervising the disciplinary commission it too may fall into corruption.

To avoid that dilemma, it would be better to create Xi's expected "scientific power structure" by establishing a new executive commission, so that the Party has three branches - decision-making, executive and disciplinary inspection - that balance each other. Detailed arrangements will also be needed. For example, the leading members of the disciplinary commissions should not assume leading positions in the Party committees or the executive commissions; the same applies to the other two.

After the recent plenum of Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC, there emerged new suggestions about promoting independence of the disciplinary commissions. That's a good idea, but disciplinary commissions should not be totally accountable to their superior commissions because that would lead to further concentration of power. Disciplinary commissions are elected by Party members and should be accountable to the electors. Besides, their power should be balanced by Party committees and executive commissions at the same level.

The Party has learned some valuable lessons about concentration of power in its history. It used to adopt the mode used in the Soviet Union, which stressed concentrating power in one pair of hands and absolute authority of that pair of hands; but the results were clear and as late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping said that concentration of power was "the final root of our problems".

The Fourth Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the CPC in October, which focused on the rule of law and governing according to the Constitution, confirmed that power should not be unregulated and that the central leadership has realized that corruption will never be rooted out without an effective system to regulate power.

Rather than fighting graft with more concentrated power, the central leadership is gradually building new mechanisms to regulate and balance power, and thus prevent corruption. That's the shared future of the rule of law and anti-graft efforts.

The Fourth Plenum made other breakthroughs by promising to uphold the rule of law, which requires recognizing the supremacy of the Constitution, ensuring the independence of judicial courts and establishing a balance between administrative and judicial powers.

All these political reform measures are in accordance with the reform of the disciplinary system. Only by successfully shutting power in the cage of law, and forming power structures in which the different branches of power balance each other will the rampant corruption in China truly be halted.

The author is vice-president of China Discipline Inspection and Supervision College.