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THE government report delivered by the Chinese premier is invariably a key event in the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress（NPC）. The NPC session overlaps with the yearly meeting of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference （CPPCC） to produce a week of key political importance for the country.
This year’s report， delivered by Wen Jiabao， was no exception. The speech， which was broadcast live in China and covered extensively in the world’s media， was notable for outlining China’s path to a moderate level of prosperity， and for dedicating much discussion to the major problems and challenges threatening the country’s future development. Issues concerning corruption， environmental degradation and the wealth gap were all canvassed.
Wen’s report reaffirmed that China would continue to combat corruption， strengthen political integrity， establish institutions to end the excessive concentration of power and lack of checks on power and ensure that officials are honest， government is clean and political affairs are handled with integrity.
There was heated debate among NPC deputies and CPPCC members throughout the week-long meetings. Topics of discussion covered all areas of governance， including how to effectively oversee the exercise of power， how to ensure power is exercised in a transparent manner， how to combat corruption and official privilege， how to fight monopolies， and many others.
Locking Power in a Cage of Regulation
Based on his experience， Gan Yisheng， a member of the CPPCC national committee and former deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China， believes that efforts to eradicate corruption should be integrated within institutional reform. The analogy he employs to illustrate the concept is a cage of regulation in which power resides. No one person should own the key.
Many of the corruption cases his commission has investigated found excessive concentration of power to blame. Crooked officials would exploit their position to gain favors from other officials. They would receive bribes from businesspeople， and sometimes even be offered sexual favors to sweeten deals.
Gan says that the transformation and streamlining of the functions of government is demanded by the imperative to continue reforming China’s socialist market economy， and absolutely necessary in order to reduce and eventually eradicate the rent-seeking and corrupt behavior of those in power. Much of this transformation should aim to make the government more service-oriented. The government should cut back on reviewing and approving procedures， and refrain from micro-managing business and society. The government exists to guide， not to command.
Dispensing with excessive concentrations of power and ensuring all those in positions of importance are held to account requires a systematic approach to reform of the state administration.
Liu Hongyu， a member of the CPPCC national committee with no party affiliation， proposed to promulgate an anti-corruption law that explicitly stipulates the maximum value and kinds of gifts public servants can accept and the procedure for registering such gifts. It’s a simple， logical idea that could help curb graft， she said.
Liu also advocated including clauses in the law prohibiting public servants from taking on part-time jobs and banning their families and relatives from working in certain fields to avoid conflicts of interest. She pushed for harsher punishment for disciplinary violations.
Gong Fuwen， another member of the CPPCC national committee and vice procurator general of the People’s Procuratorate of Shaanxi Province， stressed the importance of establishing a complete legal system to prevent and punish corruption and to supervise law enforcement.
The Internet has increasingly played a watchdog role in the nation’s fight against corruption. Recent high-profile mud-raking campaigns by Netizens have uncovered many cases of corruption. Officials have been mocked online， following which they have received official censure and punishment. Examples include a public servant seen in photos to own a number of luxury watches， the total cost of which would have amounted to several times his official salary. Another was the case of an official on fairly low pay who was found to have several houses under his name.
Renowned lawyer Duan Qihua， however， cautioned at a panel discussion at this year’s CPPCC session that well-intentioned voluntary scouting and“man hunting” on the Internet have to be carried out within the confines of law. Rumors and sedition should be avoided.
Duan agreed that the Internet is a powerful tool and a valuable addition to the arsenal of means available to fight corruption.
But with the ocean of information online – not all of it accurate – people often find it hard to distinguish reputable sources from unreliable ones， and can be easily misled. Indeed， some corruption stories have been fabricated and /or distorted. Often， they’re just jokes， and not always funny ones for those involved.
This year’s report， delivered by Wen Jiabao， was no exception. The speech， which was broadcast live in China and covered extensively in the world’s media， was notable for outlining China’s path to a moderate level of prosperity， and for dedicating much discussion to the major problems and challenges threatening the country’s future development. Issues concerning corruption， environmental degradation and the wealth gap were all canvassed.
Wen’s report reaffirmed that China would continue to combat corruption， strengthen political integrity， establish institutions to end the excessive concentration of power and lack of checks on power and ensure that officials are honest， government is clean and political affairs are handled with integrity.
There was heated debate among NPC deputies and CPPCC members throughout the week-long meetings. Topics of discussion covered all areas of governance， including how to effectively oversee the exercise of power， how to ensure power is exercised in a transparent manner， how to combat corruption and official privilege， how to fight monopolies， and many others.
Locking Power in a Cage of Regulation
Based on his experience， Gan Yisheng， a member of the CPPCC national committee and former deputy secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China， believes that efforts to eradicate corruption should be integrated within institutional reform. The analogy he employs to illustrate the concept is a cage of regulation in which power resides. No one person should own the key.
Many of the corruption cases his commission has investigated found excessive concentration of power to blame. Crooked officials would exploit their position to gain favors from other officials. They would receive bribes from businesspeople， and sometimes even be offered sexual favors to sweeten deals.
Gan says that the transformation and streamlining of the functions of government is demanded by the imperative to continue reforming China’s socialist market economy， and absolutely necessary in order to reduce and eventually eradicate the rent-seeking and corrupt behavior of those in power. Much of this transformation should aim to make the government more service-oriented. The government should cut back on reviewing and approving procedures， and refrain from micro-managing business and society. The government exists to guide， not to command.
Dispensing with excessive concentrations of power and ensuring all those in positions of importance are held to account requires a systematic approach to reform of the state administration.
Liu Hongyu， a member of the CPPCC national committee with no party affiliation， proposed to promulgate an anti-corruption law that explicitly stipulates the maximum value and kinds of gifts public servants can accept and the procedure for registering such gifts. It’s a simple， logical idea that could help curb graft， she said.
Liu also advocated including clauses in the law prohibiting public servants from taking on part-time jobs and banning their families and relatives from working in certain fields to avoid conflicts of interest. She pushed for harsher punishment for disciplinary violations.
Gong Fuwen， another member of the CPPCC national committee and vice procurator general of the People’s Procuratorate of Shaanxi Province， stressed the importance of establishing a complete legal system to prevent and punish corruption and to supervise law enforcement.
The Internet has increasingly played a watchdog role in the nation’s fight against corruption. Recent high-profile mud-raking campaigns by Netizens have uncovered many cases of corruption. Officials have been mocked online， following which they have received official censure and punishment. Examples include a public servant seen in photos to own a number of luxury watches， the total cost of which would have amounted to several times his official salary. Another was the case of an official on fairly low pay who was found to have several houses under his name.
Renowned lawyer Duan Qihua， however， cautioned at a panel discussion at this year’s CPPCC session that well-intentioned voluntary scouting and“man hunting” on the Internet have to be carried out within the confines of law. Rumors and sedition should be avoided.
Duan agreed that the Internet is a powerful tool and a valuable addition to the arsenal of means available to fight corruption.
But with the ocean of information online – not all of it accurate – people often find it hard to distinguish reputable sources from unreliable ones， and can be easily misled. Indeed， some corruption stories have been fabricated and /or distorted. Often， they’re just jokes， and not always funny ones for those involved.