Anti-graft drive must promote rule of law

vThe Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party of China's top discipline watchdog, has started posting the confessions of corrupt officials on its website. The confessions of former officials under arrest or serving sentences, which have become popular among netizens, offer some vivid details of their misdeeds and subtle variations in their thoughts.

The confessions attract readers because it is hard for people to know the true feelings of corrupt officials, which they kept hidden behind their poker faces, and what their life is really like after being ousted from office.

The CCDI intends to deter serving officials from indulging in corrupt activities with the confessions. But it seems that the arrested and under-investigation officials have simply repeated identical statements over and over again.