Anti-Corruption Campaigns: Hu’s fight against corruption

Corruption Report

Title: Anti-Corruption Campaigns: Hu’s fight against corruption

By: Dario Ortega

            Leaders of contemporary China have made battling corruption a personal goal. Deng Xiaoping was the first to publicly acknowledge that corruption was a problem to both the survival of the Chinese Communist Party and the development of contemporary China. However, President Hu Jintao has made serious statements about identifying and bringing to a close the era of corruption within the Chinese Communist Party. But why be so public about a battling corruption?

            In 2005, the Hu regime launched a rectification campaign aimed at attacking the moral degeneration of the party. The success of this campaign has been questionable since it had very little effect on the national-level high party members while seriously affecting local and provincial party members; expelling over 44, 700 members of mid or high-ranking positions within the Chinese Communist Party. Although the effectiveness of this campaign is questionable, the fact that tens of thousands of party members were removed from office is a significant example of action.

            During these Hu anti-corruption campaigns, a push for a change in cultural thought about corruption was emphasized. Hu not only made anti-corruption efforts a pillar for his “Harmonious Society” speech, but emphasized that the youth of China must be turned away from such behavior. With the introduction of this new way of thinking of corruption, Hu engaged society to overturn a long-held belief that corruption is an inevitable part of governing. But why go through all the trouble?

            Here is where there is disagreement. Some argue that China is in a transitional phase. Gearing up to be a world power, legitimacy of the communist regime is vital to project its influence internationally. If corruption, and the acceptance of corruption by the government to continue, remains a cultural aspect of China, the regime will be less likely approved in the eyes of the world. Others argue, that there is a sociological change beginning to develop in China where internet based communication systems are making people more aware of corrupt acts and the government must appease these ‘netizens’ in order to maintain order. This is a valid argument since China has the largest population of internet users in the world, yet remains one of the most non-transparent governments in the world.

            Whatever the answer can be, it is important to pay close attention to the effectiveness and the publicity of these campaigns. The more the Chinese Communist Party pushes these anti-corruption campaigns publicly, the more sincere it makes itself seem.