‘Tiger’ hunt shows Party is resolved to clean house

Barely two days after the Communist Party of China’s topdisciplinarybodyannouncedtheinvestigationof LuWei,formerdeputychiefoftheParty’sPublicity Department,ZhangYang,aformermemberofthe Central Military Commission, who was also under investigation, committed suicide on Thursday. Lu, the first high-level official, or “tiger”, brought down by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection after the Party’s 19th National Congress, is under investigation for what are described as serious violations of disciplinary protocols.

Zhang was being investigated for his connections with the disgraced former CMC vice-chairmen Guo Boxiong and Xu Caihou, as well as offering and accepting bribes and holding a huge amount of assets whose origin was unclear, in addition to other disciplinary violations.

The investigations of Lu, who was also head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, and Zhang, who was also the former head of the military’s Political Work Department, have come as timely reassurance that the graft-busters are not easing up on their endeavors and, as CPC General Secretary Xi Jinping has vowed, there are no no-go zones.

Withthecentralleadership’sdemonstratedresolvetomakethefight againstcorruptionneverendingandalastingpoliticallegacy,itisevidentthatthegraft-bustersaredeterminedtoleavenostoneunturned.

But while pursuing those who seek to escape with impunity for their wrongdoings, it is important at the same time to mend the loose or broken fences that have allowed corruption to breed and spread in the manner it has.

The CPC has shown impressive progress in this regard by installing new anti-graft protocols and institutionalizing proven remedies, especially over the past five years. More will be achieved as the anti-graft efforts become more systematic.

A comprehensive review of existing corruption-prevention mechanisms and their subsequent overhaul, such as the establishment of a national supervisory commission system, and the adoption of national anti-corruption legislation, are indispensable for that to happen.

As Xi said in his speech at the 19th CPC National Congress, it takes a good blacksmith to make good steel. The efforts to establish the clean, honest, upright working style Xi envisions and the people are longing for have to go hand in hand with efforts to rid the People’s Liberation Army of the pernicious influence of corruption in order to make it fit for purpose.

Only through strengthening deterrence, creating a cage of institutions and constant vigilance against corruption will the military be ready to meet the demands of the day and the political environment be clean and free of corruption.