No kid gloves for corruption

The expulsion of Xu Caihou from the party, which was announced on Monday, has once again vindicated the majority of people's belief that the anti-graft fight led by the new leadership will not treat corrupt elements with kid gloves no matter how high a position they hold or once held.

Xu, once vice-chairman of the military commission of the Party Central Committee and the People's Republic of China and also a former member of the Political Bureau of the Central Party Committee, is one of the highest ranking officials within the Central Party Committee and the highest in the central government to be expelled so far.

The announcement said his suspected involvement in bribe taking and abuse of power will be delivered to the Supreme People's Procuratorate, which will authorize its military counterpart to handle the case.

That the announcement was made just a day before the birthday of the Communist Party of China on July 1 points to the new leadership's resolve to clear the ruling Party of all corrupt elements.

The stories about his problems have been on the grapevine for some time, and many have been anticipating the announcement. But there are some who doubted whether a former State and military leader would be held to account for what he has done. Some wondered whether he would be punished and if so how severe the punishment would be and set it as a benchmark of how resolute the new leadership is in rooting out corruption within the Party and the government.

The announcement came hard on the heels of Wan Qingliang, the secretary of the Party committee of Guangzhou, the capital of South China's Guangdong province, being placed under investigation last week.

What is particularly noteworthy is the fact that Wan was notified he was under investigation a day before he was due to start an inspection tour. That the city's top leader was caught completely unawares conveyed the message that the current anti-graft fight will catch up with anyone misusing their power for personal gain.

In about a year more than a dozen of ministerial level ranking officials have been placed under investigation. There is no sign that this momentum will draw to a close any time soon.

The investigation of a former State leader has further justified President Xi's statement that corruption poses the danger of the ruling Party's collapse and the perishing of the State.

Let's wish the fight a complete success for the revival of the Chinese nation.

(China Daily 07/01/2014 page8)