Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the ruling Communist Party Tuesday to rid itself of corruption, but he stopped short of introducing reforms aimed at curbing the party's unbridled power.
We "must be determined to uphold party discipline and deepen the building of a system that punishes and prevents corruption," state radio quoted Hu as saying in a speech to the party's corruption watchdog.
Hu called on party disciplinary organs to deepen an ongoing anti-graft drive in a way that would "inspire the confidence of the people," while lamenting the difficulties the party faced in eliminating corruption.
"We must fully recognise the long-term, complex and arduous nature of the struggle to fight corruption and never waver in strengthening the building of an honest government," he said.
"We must widen the scope of investigating cases, strengthen efforts in resolving corruption in major areas (and) fully resolve major problems that elicit strong reactions among the people."
Corruption has long been a source of intense public discontent in China, pushing the government and the ruling party to adopt strong measures to defend their legitimacy.
Nevertheless, corruption remains rampant at all levels of society.
Rights groups and political dissidents have long said that China will not be able to fight corruption effectively unless the nation's judiciary can operate independently from the party and the press is freely allowed to report on graft.
Hu did not mention any such reforms in his speech, but appeared to cling to a long-held position that the party is fully capable of policing itself.
Meanwhile, the head of the party's anti-corruption effort, He Guoqiang, told the meeting that 4,960 government officials above the county level had been punished in China in the first 11 months of 2008, Xinhua news agency said.
Details of the cases were not provided.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
