China’s investigators to root out corruption through tougher action against bribers
Chinese prosecutors say they are entering the next phase in the battle against graft
PUBLISHED : Friday, 19 June, 2015, 4:11pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 20 June, 2015, 2:25am
Nectar Gan [email protected]
Chinese officials have vowed to target not only corrupt officials, but also the individuals looking to gain an advantage by offering them bribes. Photo: AFP
The mainland's top prosecuting agency has vowed to go harder on those who offer bribes in its bid to root out corruption.
"[Prosecutors] should reinforce investigations into people who initiate the offering of bribes to curb the spread of bribe offering [and] to cut the causes of bribe taking," Qiu Xueqiang, deputy head of the agency, said on Thursday, according to the official Procuratorate Daily.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate operates the state's anti-corruption agency that is responsible for criminal investigation and prosecution, alongside the Communist Party's internal graft watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), which used to be more focused on internal interrogations of corrupted cadres.
The new approach came as the CCDI launched a function on its mobile app for whistleblowers to report officials by uploading photos of them abusing public funds for personal use.
Observers welcomed the move to target those who offer bribes, saying it could help to stem corruption at its roots.
"Bribers are a major source of the spread of corruption," said Zhuang Deshui, an anti-corruption expert at Peking University.
"Many businessmen attempt to ensnare officials and their families by offering money and drag them into the mire."
Zhuang said that creating a clean and honest social environment required the government to focus not only on the corrupt officials, but on catching and punishing those who bribed them.
"At the moment the anti-corruption campaign focuses mainly on punishing officials," he said. "To gather evidence and other clues about the crimes, [prosecutors] often have to offer bribers special treatment if they help the investigations and hand over incriminating information.
"In these circumstances, bribers have little to fear so it is hard [for the authorities] to put an end to corruption. The status quo - of focusing more on bribe takers and playing down the role played by bribe givers - should change, to ensure that the bribers and those taking bribes are bound by the same legal standards."
Ex-Chongqing party chief Bo Xilai was jailed for life for accepting 21.7 million yuan (HK$27.5 million) in bribes, while Xu Ming, who offered Bo bribes worth 20.6 million yuan, received about four years in jail.
