Editorial | Commitment remains to weed out corruption
- Any questions whether the anti-graft campaign has lost momentum have been answered by two high-profile addresses by Xi Jinping in which he urged officials not to waiver in their efforts or zero-tolerance approach
A campaign against official corruption remains a defining hallmark of President Xi Jinping’s reign since soon after he became China’s top leader in late 2012. It has helped consolidate his political power and won wide popular support. Any questions whether it has lost momentum or commitment should have been answered by two recent high-profile addresses by Xi – one to top provincial and ministerial officials at a central party school study session, and the other to a meeting of the party’s top disciplinary watchdog.
Xi urged them not to waiver in anti-corruption efforts or a zero-tolerance approach. This signals redoubled efforts to ensure clean government despite the astonishing official headcount of a crackdown unprecedented anywhere. Over the past decade the corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), investigated and punished more than 4 million cadres including nearly 500 senior officials. Nearly a million of its 95 million members were expelled from the party.
Such a scoreboard may prompt questions about the need at this time to rally anti-corruption efforts. But timing is the answer, with a leadership reshuffle expected at the 20th national party congress to be held in the second half of this year. Xi has sent out a clear message that even though leaderships come and go, a commitment to weed out corruption remains an ongoing cornerstone not just of his rule, but of the Communist Party. Despite the deterrent effect of impressive enforcement statistics, graft is still seen as one of the biggest potential threats to the party’s political legitimacy and survival.
While the CCDI strikes fear into the hearts of official wrongdoers with its secretive approach to investigations, it is also responsible for what is now a popular anti-corruption television show – an annual multi-episode documentary on its operations in which corrupt officials confess abuse of power to accumulate enormous wealth and express their remorse. Such productions play an educational role in combating graft. But since power will always be capable of corrupting, eternal vigilance and relentless scrutiny are indispensable tools for defending honest government against crooked officials.