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China's President Xi Jinping recently expressed his determination to end corruption in government with particular emphasis on the judiciary branch.
President Xi has appealed for zero tolerance in dealing with political and judicial corruption. He said that the black sheep in government must be summarily removed from office. The president made his anti-corruption speech during a two-day meeting about central political and legal work held in Beijing from Tuesday to Wednesday this week.
"We need to wipe out corruption in the political and legal systems with the greatest determination and firmest action," the president was quoted as saying. His uncompromising stand against corruption was further highlighted when he said that all government officials must have full awareness of the national laws and policies. He stressed that these laws are the bottomline and they should not be violated by those who are supposed to implement them.
The president reminded government officials not to go beyond the boundaries of the law and exercise authority that are not lawfully granted on them. President Xi said that no official is above the law and whoever tried to put themselves above it or circumvent it for selfish purposes must be harshly punished.
Since the election of the new leadership in Nov. 2012, the Communist Party of China has intensified its campaign against corruption. This determination to purge government of corruption reached the highest levels of the Chinese government. It should be noted that at least eighteen officials with the rank of minister or higher have been duly investigated since the new leadership assumed power.
One prominent public official investigated for alleged corruption was Li Dongsheng, the former vice-minister of public security. He was subjected to investigation for possible serious disciplinary violations, which is a euphemism for graft and corruption. Report about this investigation was based on the official circular issued on Dec. 25 of last year.
