Best wishes to all for the Year of the Ram

With national leaders crisscrossing communities and extending their pre-holiday greetings, and millions hitting the road and braving the crowds for family reunions at Lunar New Year's Eve dinner tables, China is officially in festive mode.

When deafening fireworks illuminate the skies and declare the dawning of the Year of the Ram, many will have reasons to dream bigger and aim higher. Not just because we are embracing the start of a new year, but because the outgoing Year of the Horse has convinced us of things previously unimaginable.

Before former Party Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang's investigation, there had been the long-standing assumption that officials atop the pyramid of power are immune to criminal liabilities. But Zhou has been brought down, and his once intimidating empire is now in ruins.