Anti-graft fight has to be taken to next level

A sound legal system, full-fledged participation of the people are necessary to ensure clean governance

For a country that still needs to overcome a series of institutional difficulties and obstacles to comprehensively deepen reforms, China must launch a resolute and deeper anti-corruption campaign to dig out both high-ranking "tigers" and low-level "flies".

The gap between the rich and the poor, a deteriorating environment, the wasting of land, man-made calamities, as well as the existence of some ugly and evil social phenomena are to a large extent related to market imperfections, inequitable competition, the abuse of power and corruption.

For China, reform of its economic system remains the focal point of efforts for comprehensive and deepened reforms, and the key task is how to handle the relations between the government and the market to make the market play a decisive role in the distribution of resources and make the government function better. Addressing such problems as deficiencies in the market mechanism, excessive government intervention and the failure to put effective supervision in place will not just help deepen China's economic systematic reforms, it will also help strengthen and improve its corruption punishment and prevention system.

The establishment of such an anti-corruption mechanism will also help the market play a decisive role in economic activities, maintain the order of market competition, more effectively curb social unfairness and enable the comprehensive deepening of reforms.

A more resolute fight against corruption will help eliminate the resistance and obstacles to reforms. Corruption has not only compromised the interests of the public and the whole nation, it has also hampered the country's efforts to advance comprehensive and deepened reforms. Three decades ago, there were also officials who felt reluctant or who did not dare to push forward reforms, but this was mainly due to their closed minds, tunnel vision and lack of knowledge, and also a result of China's long policy of secluding itself from the outside world.

However, after more than 30 years of reform and opening-up, the minds of the majority of officials have already been emancipated, their field of vision has been widened, their knowledge enriched and they have cultivated sharper perceptions of the problems China now faces and the countermeasures needed. This means that some officials' reluctance to push forward reforms or willingness to obstruct them is no longer an issue of perception, but an issue of interests, as some worry that further reforms will touch their vested interests. Some officials have even got accustomed to their privileges, and the abuse of power for personal gain.

To deepen reforms means regulating public power, perfecting the market order and depriving vested groups of their tightly controlled privileges and interests.

However, by taking advantage of their privileges, these groups might try to form an opposing force and take all available measures and every possible pretext to negate, delay and even obstruct reform measures.

Therefore, severely striking against both "tigers and flies" will effectively remove obstacles that stand in the way of the country's reforms. In this sense, a resolute campaign to fight corruption and build a clean government will offer China chances for achieving breakthroughs for its comprehensive and deepened reforms.

A sweeping anti-corruption drive will help create a social environment for fair competition. With the deepening of reforms and the progress of society, the Party and the ordinary people have shown less tolerance toward corruption.

The former leader Deng Xiaoping said that some regions and people should be allowed to become rich first and then help other regions and people become wealthy and finally realize a common prosperity. Such a development approach was aimed at breaking the country's rigid economic structure at that time. With such a policy environment, a number of private entrepreneurs have emerged and created enormous individual wealth. However, the excessive concentration of social wealth, especially at a time when the country's democracy and legal system are yet to improve, has also increased corruption.

Polarization of social wealth, when combined with corruption, can easily give rise to some social problems and make the encroachment into public, national and collective interests unavoidable and even ignite a fuse for the outbreak of some mass or unexpected incidents, thus endangering social and political stability.

Since Deng's inspection tour to the south in 1992, China has maintained high-speed economic development for more than 20 years, but in this process, conflicts among people and between man and nature have become fiercer, and such problems as the lack of coordination and sustainability have become more outstanding. The Party and central government have taken some measures, such as the adoption of a scientific development perspective and setting the goal of building a harmonious society, to resolve or curb the problems.

However, the phenomenon of corruption and related social injustice have failed to really be addressed and some corrupt officials have tried to sabotage the market order, hamper scientific development, infringe on the interests of the people and compromise social harmony and stability. These also make the Party and ordinary people less tolerant toward any laxness in eliminating corruption and punishing violations of law.

To achieve ideal effects in the anti-corruption campaign, a sound legal system and full-fledged democracy are also needed. Only with a well-developed legal system and the extensive participation of ordinary people, can China gain the necessary legal guarantee and a solid foundation for anti-corruption work.

The author is deputy head of the Research Institute of Procuratorial Theory, the Supreme People's Procuratorate. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 03/07/2014 page12)