Anti-graft drive must promote rule of law

The confessions make readers realize that supervisory departments, judicial authorities and official assessment mechanisms almost always failed at the same point. Is it a coincidence that the period when officials receive or give the most bribes is also the period when they get promoted the fastest?

The government controls huge amounts of resources and approval power. Thanks to this fact and lax supervision, it is easier for government officials to seek bribes in exchange of favors especially from businesspeople. If the relations between the government and businesspeople is not properly balanced, the political environment will become unequal and unfair. China needs to build a political environment that gives full play to the specific roles of business and the government for sustainable economic development.

People are not likely to be content with the arrest of some high-ranking corrupt officials, for they want to see real changes in power supervision, the petition process, government transparency and officials' promotions. Identical confessions in content and form won't help much in making the anti-corruption agencies strong and effective, a goal reiterated by Party chief Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan, the top anti-graft official.

Also, each official sentenced or put under investigation for corruption is a loss for the country. It takes many years and lots of resources to cultivate an experienced civil servant. That is why it is important and urgent to build a mature anti-corruption system that acts as a preventive mechanism against graft and graft seekers.

All powers are granted and supervised by the law. So the intensive anti-corruption campaign should help transform China into a country that abides by and respects the rule of law, well beyond investigating more corrupt officials, putting them in jail and obtaining their confessions.

The author is a writer with China Daily. liyang@chinadaily.com.cn