The Chinese media and the Internet are full of speculations on how the top leadership will continue the anti-corruption campaign after putting former security chief Zhou Yongkang under investigation. A former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Zhou is the highest-ranking official facing investigation for corruption since the launch of reform in the late 1970s. As Chinese often say, Zhou is the “biggest tiger” to be trapped in the anti-corruption net.<\/p>\n
Although people have welcomed the probe against Zhou, they are asking what turns will the anti-corruption campaign and the overall political development take now? Will the campaign taper off? And what long-term effects will the anti-corruption campaign leave? \u00a0The official press is busy trying to answer these questions. Shortly after Zhou was put under investigation, a commentary on gmw.cn went on to say hunting down a “big tiger” cannot be the ultimate goal of the crackdown on corruption. Instead, the goal should be to use the opportunity to deepen government reforms, and to wipe out bad officials’ influence in ways prescribed by the law. After hunting down Zhou, China still has three major battles to fight.<\/p>\n
The first battle is to use the Fourth Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee, scheduled for October, to expedite the country’s legal development and strengthen the rule of law. In fact, the natural continuation of the anti-corruption campaign is to design effective institutions to prevent the distortion of law in implementation.
\nThe second battle is to redress the inequality in wealth and status in the market, which can be done through reform of State-owned enterprises, which have de facto monopoly over of natural resources, and make them face effective competition.
\nThe market should be strictly regulated to curb what the author of the article in People’s Daily calls “feudal capitalism”, or crony capitalism. Authorities must make serious efforts, even if they are not more serious than the anti-corruption drive, to encourage “true entrepreneurship” while battling “bureaucratic capitalism” and “barbarian capitalists”. \u00a0The third battle has to be fought on the international relations front to earn China a larger space for its peaceful rise.<\/p>\n
It is still too early to claim victory over corruption. People could feel disappointed again if there aren’t more effective methods to deal with the problems mentioned above. Therefore, the leadership has to show more tangible results to the people.<\/p>\n
The Chinese media and the Internet are full of speculations on how the top leadership will continue the anti-corruption campaign after putting former security chief Zhou Yongkang under investigation. A former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau … Continue reading ![\"Wiping](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Wiping-Out-Corruption-in-China-300x211.jpg\")
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