Editorials

Party regulation

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-02 07:50

For the Communist Party of China (CPC), celebrating the 89th anniversary of its founding is certainly going to be a gargantuan affair, what with the 78 million members on its rolls far surpassing even the population of many nations on the planet!

Last year alone, the CPC added more than 2 million members, and it set up local branches in 438,000 private firms, further expanding its sphere of influence.

With a sizable proportion of the Chinese populace being members of the Party, and the State apparatus firmly in its grip, it does not seem to be facing any kind of threat to its authority.

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Its sheer size means the CPC will continue to helm the ship. Speculation regarding its future hold on power - one of the very few Communist parties in the saddle anywhere in the world - definitely merits little analysis.

Yet, the CPC leadership has not allowed the status quo to ossify its thinking. A proper sense of anxiety, as CPC General-Secretary Hu Jintao has stated on many occasions, about the Party's future is good for its own health.

The biggest challenge the CPC now faces is how to manage its own ranks. Size does not equate to strength. It means more difficulty and complexity in self-regulation.

Given society's pervasive worry about corruption, particularly since many CPC members are also key decision makers in government, the Party faces a tough battle to maintain, if not regain, a respectable image.

To rebuild confidence in its avowed commitment to public good, the CPC must use this occasion to prove that it will do whatever it takes to check corruption in its ranks.

(China Daily 07/02/2010 page8)