Future depends on tests ahead

Presaging the prosecution of both Bo Xilai and Zhou Yongkang – and President Xi’s general campaign against “tigers and flies” - Qiao Shi told me then that “No organization or individual has the prerogative to override the constitution or the law.”

The phrase “rule of law” was enshrined for the first time in the Chinese Constitution when it was amended in 1999 as the result of the efforts of Qiao Shi and others.

As Xin Chunying, vice-chairperson of the NPC Legislative Affairs Committee, wrote recently in The World Post: “China has had a long history and a tradition of rule by man. Turning towards rule of law takes time and arduous effort. Now, 15 years after the constitutional amendment, the country still falls short of achieving its target of rule of law.”

It is a good sign that the Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee in October was devoted, for the first time, entirely to advancing the rule of law. President Xi’s biggest domestic challenge will be to bring Party disciplinary actions against corruption in line with prosecution by the government based on laws promulgated by the NPC and adjudicated in clean courts.

The author is editor-in-chief of The World Post and Senior Advisor to the Berggruen Institute on Governance. He is co-author with Nicolas Berggruen of “Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way Between West and East.”