Opinion | No one can be above the law in China's anti-corruption fight
Hu Shuli says Beijing must leave no stone unturned if it wishes to build credibility and send a warning to errant officials to clean up their act
No one is off limits in the government's campaign against corruption. CCTV financial news channel director Guo Zhenxi was put under investigation late last month, three months after the sacking of security vice-minister Li Dongsheng, who also worked for the state broadcaster.
In late March, Gu Junshan, a former deputy logistics chief of the People's Liberation Army, was indicted for embezzlement and bribery, among other charges.
This month, the government announced that Su Rong , vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, was being investigated for "disciplinary violations", the most senior serving official to be investigated so far. A few days later, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection reported on its website that Ling Zhengce, the vice-chairman of Shanxi's political advisory body, was also under investigation.
The fall from grace of one official after another demonstrates the government's determination to net both "tigers" and "flies".
No organisation or individual should be untouchable, because corruption is pervasive. As these and other cases show, the malaise has reached into every nook and cranny in Chinese society, and collusion between the corrupt is commonplace.
As long as the oversight of power remains lax, corruption will flourish. By coming down hard on perpetrators, the government is building up public confidence in its law enforcement. It also sends a warning to other corrupt officials.