China must root out corruption or Communist Party will be erased from history, graft-buster warns

China must win its battle against corruption or face being erased by history, its new top graft buster wrote in an editorial on Saturday, underscoring the ruling Communist Party’s focus on eliminating corrupt behaviour.

Zhao Leji, who was appointed to the new seven-member Politburo Standing Committee last month and given the task of leading President Xi Jinping’s signature war on corruption, wrote in the state-run People’s Daily that failure would lead to the party’s downfall.

“If our control of the party is not strong and party governance is not strict, then the party won’t be able to avoid being erased by history and the historic task the party carries will not be able to be fulfilled,” Zhao wrote.

Xi, like others before him, has warned that corruption is so serious it could lead to the end of the party’s grip on power.

Xi’s corruption fight has ensnared more than 1.3 million officials. At last month’s five-yearly party congress he said it would continue to target both “tigers” and “flies”, a reference to elite officials and ordinary bureaucrats.

Zhao, formerly a low profile official, replaced Wang Qishan, whose sweeping anti-graft campaign had made him China’s second most-powerful politician.