Eradicate corruption at its root

The fight against corruption should focus more on eradicating graft and power abuse at the root, instead of punishing individual corrupt officials, says an article of the China Business News. Excerpts:

Party chief Xi Jinping stressed recently that China will continue to fight corruption with heavy penalties and great resolve.

Since November 2012, nearly 20 senior officials have been sacked and investigated on suspicion of corruption and power abuse.

But, as Xi said, the root of corruption still exists and battling corruption is a pressing and daunting job for the Party and government.

On the one hand, officials must respect their power, which is granted by the people. They are only executing the power to serve the people.

On the other hand, officials should be fully aware of their responsibility. If they fail to do their job well, they should take responsibility or be punished according to the law.

The people should enjoy and exercise their right to know as well as their participation rights, expression rights and supervision rights.

Officials should also establish a moral "negative list" to check boundaries in power and job responsibilities.

The judicial and auditing authorities should stay independent and play bigger roles in supervision and investigation with Party and government disciplinary inspection departments.

Further, China should develop an effective set of institutions to transform the campaign-style corruption fight into a long-term system to restrict and supervise the operation of powers.