How to supervise the power supervisors

More than 200 million yuan ($31.23 million) in cash, all covered in dust with some damaged, was found in Liu Xiangdong's house, former head of the disciplinary inspection team of Northern China's Shanxi province, according to some media reports. And that was only part of the booty, the reports said.

The astonishing amount of money and his special position both have made Liu the central figure among the four corrupt officials named by Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of Communist Party of China, the country's top disciplinary watchdog, over the weekend.

The case raises a key question: Who will supervise the supervisors? In the nationwide crackdown on corruption, the country's top leadership and provincial disciplinary committees have sent inspection teams to supervise officials in powerful lower-level departments. As representatives of higher authorities, the members of such teams are generally more powerful than the departmental officials they investigate. But that also makes it possible for the investigative officials to become part of the corruption racket. How to supervise the members of such investigation teams to make sure they stay clean?