 |
|
Hold
High the Sharp Anti-corruption Sword
(10/26/2002)
This article, written by People's Daily correspondent Xia Changyong,
which is about the achievements gained in the construction of the
Party's style of work and a clean and honest government and in the
anti-corruption struggle since the Fourth Plenary Session of the
13th CPC Central Committee, focuses on the following points.
"Comrades of the whole Party must, from the height of the
life and death of the Party and the State, fully understand the
important significance of the work of punishing corruption and building
a clean and honest government, and carry this struggle through the
end." The above remarks of Comrade Jiang Zemin demonstrate
our Party's firm determination to fight corruption. A sample survey
conducted among departments concerned shows: The degree of the masses'
approval of the anti-corruption work in 2002 is 11 percentage points
higher than in 1996; the approval degree of those who think the
high corruption momentum has been curbed within a certain range
has risen by 13.4 percentage points; and the degree of those who
express their confidence in the anti-corruption struggle has jumped
by 20 percentage points over 1996.
Fixing the Anti-corruption Road
Since 1989, Comrade Jiang Zemin has made 10 important speeches at
the plenary sessions of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection,
in which he repeatedly stressed that "to run the country, it
is necessary to first administer the Party, and Party affairs must
be administered with severity", and he has given a series of
important instructions on the guiding ideology, basic principles
and strategic arrangements for the struggle against corruption.
Since the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th Party Central Committee,
particularly since the 15th Party National Congress, our Party has
determined the guiding ideology for the anti-corruption struggle
in the New Period, to put it briefly, it is: in fight against corruption,
we must uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC),
adhere to Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory
and the Party's basic line as the guidance, and act on the requirements
of the "three represents", we must work closely around
the center of economic construction, obey and serve the general
situation of reform, development and stability; we have set a pattern
for the three fields of work relating to the anti-corruption struggle,
namely, leading cadres must be clean and honest and self-disciplined,
we must investigate and deal with cases of violation of discipline
and law, and correct the unhealthy trend existing in departments
and trades, we must persistently set up two defense lines of ideology
and morality, and Party discipline and State laws, we must base
ourselves on educating the overwhelming majority of Party members
and leading cadres and keep our eyes on precautions, and have severely
punished a tiny handful of corrupt elements; we have formed the
working line of making general strategic arrangements, instituted
tactical, stage-by-stage implementation, scored constant, phased
achievements and added many small victories up to a big one; we
have adopted countermeasures to strengthen education, perfect the
legal system, intensify supervision and continuously eradicate corruption-breeding
soil and condition, solve temporary and permanent issues and take
a comprehensive approach toward related problems; we have established
a leadership system and working mechanism for unified leadership
by the Party committee, joint management by the Party and government,
organization and coordination by commission for discipline inspection,
assumption of respective responsibilities by departments and reliance
on the masses' support and participation in the anti-corruption
struggle.
Steadily Advancing the Three Fields of Work
Since the Fourth Plenum of the 13th Party Central Committee, particularly
since the 15th Party National Congress, notable results have been
achieved in steadily pushing forward the three fields of work, the
improvement of the Party style of work, the construction of a clean
and honest government and the anti-corruption struggle.
The various provisions requiring leading cadres to be clean and
honest and self-disciplined have been further carried out and their
administrative behavior has been constantly standardized. The "Some
Guiding Principles for the CPC Leading Cadres to Exercise Clean
and Honest Administration (Trial Implementation)" formulated
by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in 1997 concretely
lay down 31 "prohibitions" relating to the administrative
behavior of CPC leading cadres. Since the 15th Party National Congress,
the CPC Central Committee has each year designated several key points
of which the masses strongly complain, and concentrated its efforts
on improvement, for example: the communication tools provided for
leading cadres with public funds are cleared up; no gifts and souvenirs
are allowed to be presented at conferences held by Party and government
organizations; Party and government institutions are strictly forbidden
to hold conferences in Lushan Mountains and 11 other scenic areas;
leading cadres are forbidden to abuse their power and work post
to seek illicit benefits for their spouses and children; cash gifts
and negotiable securities, etc. accepted by leading cadres as well
as their spouses and children are cleared up.
Notable results have been achieved in the work of the investigation
and prosecution of cases of violation of discipline and laws. Statistics
show that between October 1997 and May 2002, over 790,000 cases
had been put on file for investigation and prosecution by discipline
inspection commissions and supervisory institutions nationwide,
over 780,000 of which had been closed, disciplinary measures had
been taken against more than 780,000 people and economic losses
of 30.1 billion yuan had been retrieved for the State. The investigation
and prosecution of major and importance cases have greatly inspired
the Party and the people.
The work of rectifying the unhealthy trends existing in departments
and trades is being advanced steadily. Efforts are focused on the
rectification of the problems, such as the unhealthy trends existing
in the purchase and sale of medicine which affect the vital interests
of the masses and which the society strongly complain about, the
"three-aspect chaos" (indiscriminate charges, unauthorized
fund-raising and arbitrary fines) existing in highways, excessive
burden imposed on farmers and enterprises, and the practice of arbitrary
charges existing in primary and middle schools, investigation teams
have been organized to conduct overt investigations and covert visits,
with remarkable results.
Eradicating Corruption-Breeding Soil
Continued efforts are being intensified to prevent and punish corruption
from its source, the eradication of corruption-breeding soil is
taken as a policy of fundamental to the anti-corruption struggle.
Notable progress has been achieved in the construction of a legal
system for improvement of the Party style of work and construction
of a clean and honest government. Statistics show that the period
from the Party's 15th National Congress to the end of 2001, more
than 2,000 laws and regulations as well as standard documents had
been formulated by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection,
the Ministry of Supervision as well as various provinces (autonomous
regions and municipalities), the various ministries and commissions
under the State Council for the construction of Party style of work
and a clean and honest government, these provisions have laid a
solid foundation for preventing and curbing the breeding of corruption
from its fountainhead.
In July 1998, the Party Central Committee decided that the armed
forces, armed police units and political-legal organizations should,
without exception, cease the activities of doing business and running
enterprises. In November of that same year, the Party Central Committee
again decided that the central organizations of the Party and government
must, before the end of 1998, completely dissociate themselves from
the economic entities they set up and the enterprises directly under
their management. In the following year, local Party and government
organizations at various levels also began to completely separate
themselves from the enterprises they operated. Doing so strengthens
the self-construction of the People's Army and State organs and
reduced the conditions that generated passive and corrupt phenomena.
In order to harness corruption from its source, "administrative
charges and income from imposition of fines and confiscation of
funds have been managed by "separating revenue from expenditures";
in an effort to curb the breeding of corruption on the construction
market, "visible construction markets" have been introduced
nationwide; making village affairs, factory affairs and administrative
affairs open to the public is being pushed forward steadily and
has thus provided effective guarantee for preventing the generation
of corruption from its source.
(from peopledaily.com.cn)
|
|
