A fine line between fighting graft and providing justice

Beijing's most potent weapon in its fight against corrupt officials is shuanggui - a Communist Party rule which requires suspects to report to graft investigators at specific times and places.

Much like the infamous invitation for coffee by Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption, the mere mention of the word is enough to make corrupt mainland officials tremble with fear. But the mainland leadership is under increasing pressure to scrap the rule, or at least restrict how it should be applied.

An increasing number of legal professionals are criticising the rule as illegal and unconstitutional. Perhaps understandably, more officials are also stepping up lobbying efforts against the rule as many of them have seen how it has ruined the lives of former colleagues or friends.

Supporters of the rule are fighting back, arguing that shuanggui remains the most effective method in a society where the rule of law is far from perfect. How authorities in Beijing handle the matter will be a litmus test of their leadership, balancing their determination to root out corruption with pursuing the rule of law.

The shuanggui rule first became effective in 1990, soon after the Tiananmen protests, which were partly triggered by popular anger against widespread official corruption.

The rule enables the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's anti-corruption watchdog, to require party members suspected of corruption to report to investigators at specific times and locations. The Ministry of Supervision, which monitors the conduct of civil servants, has the same power.

Since most of the mainland's civil servants are party members, the commission is the better-known enforcer of the rule. Like Hong Kong's ICAC investigators, the commission's graft-busters usually appear unannounced and take suspects to a safe location, usually a government-run guest house, where they will be questioned and investigated under a 24-hour watch.