Deputies to the ongoing National People's Congress (NPC) are demanding harsher anti-corruption measures to ensure a clean civil service.

They called for a stronger anti-corruption department to enforce the law more strictly.

"We already have many detailed rules to rein in officials, but the problem is some people will take evasive action,'' said Tong Haibao, an NPC deputy and president of a district procuratorate in Ma'anshan, a city in East China's Anhui Province.

For example, he noted, although the government has required civil servants to regularly report on their income, some officials have deliberately concealed their extra sources of income, such as gifts.

"Not all gifts are illegal. It would be all right even if you accept one million yuan (US$120,000) from your wife,'' he said.

"But you should at least let law enforcers know what your real income is, otherwise the law will exist in name only.''

Tong said that officials who fail to report their true incomes should be penalized, regardless of whether they have actually taken bribes.

"We must make sure that there are no loopholes in the rules,'' he said.

Tong has filed a motion to the NPC calling for a special code governing anti-corruption work.

He also suggested that the anti-corruption section in procuratorates should be incorporated with the ruling Communist Party of China's discipline and inspection section and the government's supervision department, to form a more powerful anti-graft organ.

China's law entitles the police to investigate ordinary crimes, while procuratorates probe into corruption and other crimes committed by civil servants who have taken advantage of their power.

But the problem of corruption is obviously more than just the concern of procurators.

"The public hates corruption, as it tarnishes the image of the Party and government,'' said Zhao Xizhong, an NPC deputy from the northeastern Liaoning province.

He is a national model worker and is now manager of a grain depot in the city of Panjin.

"I hope that the rules against corruption can be perfected to wipe out this scourge,'' said Zhao.

However, some people pointed out that, in the fight against corruption, practical action is more important than mere words.

"I think the law is quite complete in this aspect and our anti-corruption champions are working efficiently in line with the law,'' a senior procurator with the Supreme People's Procuratorate said, asking to be unnamed.

He said that the criteria of, and punishment for corruption and the procedure to deal with the crime have been stipulated clearly in the criminal law and other codes.

The main problem in the fight against corruption is a lack of staff, funding, and advanced equipment, he said.

"Many want the law to give out heavier punishments for corruption, but I would rather the law gives us greater power,'' he said.

(China Daily)