China engaged in intensive attack on corruption

Source: CCTV.com | 03-13-2007 16:18

China is engaged in its most intensive attack on corruption in over two decades. Last year alone, nearly 100,000 Party members were called to account, including some officials at the ministerial level. Curbing corruption is a top priority as the government cleans itself up and tries to improve social harmony.

September 25, 2006. Shanghai. Everything seems normal. But not for the Party chief of the economic powerhouse.

Gan Yisheng, deputy secretary CPC Central Discipline Inspection Comm., said, "Recently the Central Discipline Inspection Commission investigated the misuse of pension funds by the Shanghai Social Security Bureau. We found out that Shanghai Municipal Secretary of the CPC, Chen Liangyu, was involved."

Chen was sacked in a scandal involving billions of yuan. The case had broken a month earlier, and bearing the brunt was Shanghai's social security bureau chief.

Shockwaves quickly spread to the capital Beijing. Within a month, the head of the National Statistics Bureau, Qiu Xiaohua, was dismissed. Another suspect in the Shanghai fraud.

Gan Yisheng, said, "With he investigation going on, more people might be found to be involved. Whoever they are, we will deal with them according to law and disciplines. We will tolerate no corrupt Party and government officials."

By the end of the year, the case had brought down more than a dozen officials and business executives.

The Party and government are determined to show it was cleaning house.

Nearly 100,000 party members were disciplined last year. Four out of five were charged with taking bribes, violating the party's financial rules or dereliction of duty.

Seven were particularly high-profile.

The public is clear about the temptations of power.

Shanghai resident, said, "If there's no mechanism to check on the activities of Party cadres or government officials, it's easy for a good person to turn bad."

And improving the mechanism is exactly what the Party and government are set to do.

Wen Jiabao, Chinese Premier, said, "Bureaucracy, formalism, keeping away from the masses, dereliction of duty, misuse of power, taking bribes The fundamental reason to all these problems is an imperfect system and ineffective supervision."

As China is poised to spread the benefits of economic development among the people, a clean government is crucial.

Hu Jintao, Chinese President, said, "The fight against corruption has great influence on the overall development of the country. And this task is in the fundamental interests of the people, in the service of social equality, harmony and stability."

Fighting corruption remains a formidable job. Officials admit it's impossible to root out the problem in the short term. But Premier Wen Jiabao has made the goal clear: a transparent, efficient and clean government. And the efforts are gaining momentum.

Editor:Du Xiaodan