A number of major corruption cases were uncovered before the NPC
and CPPCC sessions, netting quite a number of corrupted officials
to the satisfaction of the people.
The move reflects the determination of the government and the
result of institutional innovation over the past few years.
All the cases revealed institutional flaws and a strong interest
chains behind the money-power trade-off, said NPC deputies from
Northeast China. Without smashing the interest chains and removing
the institutional flaws, it would be impossible to curb corruption
that has assumed an almost endemic proportion.
The Chinese government is on the right track when it has decided
to curb corruption institutionally, said Zuo Lianbi, an inspector
of the Central Disciplinary Commission of the CPC central committee
and CPPCC member, adding that the promulgation of the intra-Party
supervision regulations is a case in point.
The accelerated reforms of the financial and administrative
systems, redefinition of the government roles in social and
economic development and the evolution of a more scientific
approach to development that places people above everything else
--all these constitute part of the efforts by the country to fight
corruption.
These reforms have minimized the space for the survival of
corruption, said Xie Yong, a CPPCC member and deputy president of
the Higher People's Court of Hunan Province.
The future political stability depends on the ability of the
ruling party to strike a complicated and delicate balance among
people groups with conflicting interests, said Zuo Lianbi. It would
be too pessimistic or too optimistic to place hopes of eliminating
corruption on political reform only. It is not realistic to put an
immediate end to corruption as soon as a sound political system is
put in place. The fight against corruption requires a breakthrough
in political reform and the support of economic measures and the
coordination of social reforms, Zuo added.
(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2004)
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