Zero Tolerance

　　China has strengthened its efforts incracking down on corruption after the 18th NationalCongress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) inlate 2012， where a “zero tolerance” policy towardviolators was adopted. In December 2013 alone， eightprovincial- and ministerial-level officials were investigatedfor alleged discipline violations， according toCao Jianming， Procurator General of China’s SupremePeople’s Procuratorate.

　　On the evening of February 18， 2014， the CPCCentral Commission for Discipline Inspection statedon its website that Ji Wenlin， then Vice Governor ofsouth China’s Hainan Province， was being probed forsuspected serious disciplinary and legal violations.Scarcely 14 hours later， Zhu Zuoli， then Vice Chairmanof the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the ChinesePeople’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC)， wasbeing investigated under the same allegation.

　　During the Second Session of the 12th NationalPeople’s Congress (NPC)， China’s top legislature， heldfrom March 5 to 13 in Beijing， and the Second Sessionof the 12th CPPCC National Committee， China’s toppolitical advisory body， the topic of the anti-corruptioncampaign was debated by NPC deputies and CPPCCNational Committee members. ChinAfrica spoke tosome of them about how to advance the nation’s anticorruptionefforts. Edited excerpts of their views follow：

　　Hao Shusheng

　　CPPCC National Committee Member， Director of the Institute of History Studies with the Gansu Academy of Social Sciences

　　The government has been highlypraised by the public due to itsperformance in the face of disasters and emergencies，as well as a series of policies adopted for improvingpeople’s livelihood. However， administration by lawand transparency in policy-making are generally thesubjects of criticism. Most notably， because of corruptionamong some officials， the government’s credibilityis being undermined.

　　I suggest greater priority be given to establishing aclean government and strengthening its credibility andadministration capability. Besides， administration by lawshould be guaranteed by established and institutionalizedsystems. There should also be practical measures taken tohelp officials and civil servants to be more law-abiding anddisciplined of their own accord.

　　The Internet， via social media， can play a greater role insupervising the government， as it is an efficient platformfor the public to learn what the government is doing andexpose corruption. The public’s right to know， to participate，to express and to supervise can be better realizedthrough this platform.

　　Admittedly， it [social media] is sometimes abused bypeople venting personal vendettas. Some corruptionexposure has proved to be false and an infringementon people’s privacy. But as an emerging method for thepublic to better exert their rights to monitor [corruption]，it should be improved by strengthening supervision. Anaccountability system with which those who abuse theright to expression can be traced and punished should beestablished， so as to put online monitoring under regulationof law.

　　Hou Xinyi

　　CPPCC National Committee Member， Professor of Nankai University Law SchoolDuring the anti-corruption campaign，many officials who break

　　laws and the Party’s discipline are investigated andpunished， deterring others from abusing power andgetting corrupted. To root out the problem， a preventionand guarantee mechanism should be set up to ensurepeople do not， and are not able to， carry out corruptactivities. With some local governments not being wellaware of their responsibilities and boundaries of authority，some powers are abused， undermining the government’sadministration capability.

　　To fundamentally destroy corruption， power shouldbe better restricted. Also， the relationship between theCentral Government and local governments， governmentand the market， and government and society should bestraightened out， so that the chances of abuse of powercan be reduced. Power abuse is always driven by profits.If some departments and officials take advantage of theirpower for personal gain， corruption is inevitable. To avoidthis， more government power should be delegated to themarket.

　　Besides， monitoring through public opinion can playa better role in regard to advancing governments to beclean. Institutions vital to the rule of law should be establishedas soon as possible to guarantee the government’sadministration by the law.

　　Moreover， prevention mechanisms， such as a propertyreporting system for officials， are needed. And to increasetransparency of the government’s budget， I suggest detailingthe budget to elaborate on what the expenditure isused for. For example， when a local government plans tobuild a new stadium， it should specify the location， the sizeand cost in the budget. Opinions are then solicited on publicwhether there is a need for such a stadium. In this way，the budget is not only more transparent， but also easier tounderstand by the public.

　　Chen Xu

　　NPC Deputy， Chief Procurator of the Shanghai Municipal People’s ProcuratorateThe responsibilities， working procedures

　　and approaches of China’santi-corruption organs are still notinstitutionalized due to lack of a comprehensive anti-corruptionlaw. There should be such a law to guarantee the independenceand authority of the anti-corruption organs， likethe people’s procuratorates and commissions for disciplineinspection of the CPC at all levels， so that they can observetheir legal obligations.

　　As anti-corruption organs， China’s procuratorates are hierarchicallyclassified as the Supreme People’s Procuratorate，provincial， municipal and county-level ones， res ulting inanti-corruption strengths and efforts dispersed at all levels. Isuggest the anti-corruption organs at city and county levelsbe canceled to centralize the efforts on fighting corruptionand increase the professionalism of the organs that are kept.

　　With such an integrated institution， there will be enoughpersonnel for the oversight of specific professional areas. Forexample， some are supposed to supervise departments incharge of financing， while others of real estate.

　　The definition of bribery should also be updated. Previously，bribery mainly referred to accepting money and valuableitems. In reality， officials are offered jobs， educationalopportunities， share options and even sexual bribes. As thereis no specific stipulation about these， the law should beupdated to include these newly-emerged illegal activities.Chen Jingying

　　NPC Deputy， member of the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party， Deanof the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics Law School

　　The anti-corruption campaign shouldbe reinforced and institutionalized during China’s efforts todeepen reforms. I also suggest the monitoring of corruptionbe made more timely. In some foreign countries， for thosewho expect to run for congress seats， they have to first disclosetheir property. China can borrow from this experienceto require officials to report their property before a promotion.It will not only effectively prevent corruption， but is also aprotection mechanism for officials.

　　Fighting corruption is not exclusive to legal professionals.Everyone should get involved and be active in the campaign，so as to create a complete anti-corruption network in society，leaving no room for corruption to hide.

　　As for the punishment， everyone is equal， irrespective oftheir political affiliation. As long as someone is found to be corrupt，they should be severely punished according to law.

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