Corruption will rock China and the Party: Hu Jintao

Anil Narendra

China is not a country like India or America, where society is open, Press is independent and influential human rights organizations are active there. China is under communist rule and internal developments in China rarely come to light before the world. 18^th Congress of the party in power, the Communist Party of China (CPC) started in Beijing on Thursday. 2270 representatives elected from all over the country are participating in the Congress being held at the Great Hall of Peoples in Beijing. This Congress will elect successors to the President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. Very tight security arrangements have been made at the Congress site and it is impossible to penetrate these. Vendors are also not allowed near the site of the Congress. Sixty thousand taxi drivers have been asked to ferry passengers from one place to other with window glasses drawn. The Congress will continue for a week. Addressing the important meeting of the CPC, the outgoing President, Hu Jintao startled the audience by his clear warning that corruption can prove fatal for the country and the party. Not only this, if effective measures are not taken, Party’s base could be eroded. Underlining the Party achievements during last decade under his leadership, Hu said that the Party must encourage dedicated fight against corruption and be cautious about the pitfalls ahead. He said that the Party must exhibit distinct long term political commitment to fight these issues. When a President talks about spread of corruption on such a wide scale, we can easily guess how wide-spread corruption would be in China. Recently, the American newspaper New York Times disclosed about the Hu Jintao term as President, who is known for his sympathies with the common man. During his tenure, his family accumulated property worth 27 billion dollars (approximately 144 billion rupees). The Chinese Government tried its level best to stop this report from being published, but New York Times loaded this report on its website. The New York Times report says that son and daughter, younger brother and other close relatives of Wen have earned unusually huge property during Wen’s term as the Prime Minister. In fact, corruption has taken the shape of epidemic in China and a number of high officers have also been awarded hard punishments. The country and the party have been rocked recently by big scandals by top leaders of the Party. Disgraced leader Wo Jilai and former Railway Minister, Liu Zhijun were dismissed for serious accusations of corruption. Just before the Congress, the Party has been badly shaken by this New York Times investigative report about the Prime Minister Wen Jiabao’s family having amassed property worth 27 billion dollars during his 10-years’ term as the Prime Minister. On the request of Wen, the Party has instituted an inquiry into the matter. Earlier, Bloomberg News Agency had accused the family of Vice-President, Xi Jinping of amassing property in the same manner. Jinping is said to be taking over as President and Party Chief from the present President Hu. The world is gradually coming to know of the extent of corruption in China. The new leadership of China will have to face the challenge of dealing with the corruption. If such is the state of corruption in a disciplined country like China, it would not be difficult to imagine the extent of corruption in a democracy. It appears that corruption is spreading its tentacles like terrorism and it is becoming a global problem.