Targeting roots of corruption

WITH 16 VICE-MINISTERIAL OR HIGHER LEVEL government officials placed under investigation for abuse of power in the past more than six months and no sign of such momentum subsiding, no one can doubt the top leadership's resolve to tackle corruption.

With the recent publication of the latest auditing report, which listed the abuse of power by central government departments and State-owned enterprises, it is not difficult to get the impression that the top authorities are fighting an all-out war against corruption with a view to making it risky, if not impossible, for officials to abuse the power they have.

At the end of June, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee adopted a program to reform the Party's discipline inspection mechanism, and five provinces and three central government departments have been designated as pilot units to trial the reform.