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 The ruling Communist Party has shown no sign of wanting to set up
an independent body to fight graft, however, and has arrested at
least 20 activists who have pushed for officials to reveal their
wealth, convicting two and sentencing a third activist to a jail
term. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, an arm of China's
anti-corruption watchdog, said investigators should probe the
perpetrators of graft, besides supervising members of the ruling
Communist Party and local investigators themselves. "Officials must investigate those responsible, as well as relevant
leaders' involvement, including within party committees and
discipline inspection committees," said a research unit that is part
of the disciplinary body, according to official news agency Xinhua.
 "(They) must make clear whether a leading official took the
initiative to discover and resolutely investigate or ... was
derelict in duty or even concealed discipline problems or shielded
(violators)," it added. In some cases, this type of corruption was not revealed until
officials were promoted, which "severely damages public confidence
in the party," it said. But it was not immediately clear if the comments represented policy
or just guidelines, or what punishment awaited officials found
guilty of such shortcomings.
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Like others before him, Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned that
graft is such a serious problem it threatens the party's very
survival, and has vowed to go after powerful "tigers" as well as
lowly "flies". The government has sought to curtail everything from bribery and
gift-giving to lavish banquets, aiming to assuage public anger over
graft and extravagance by some officials. In a bid to crack down on the use of foreign family ties to
illegally move assets or escape investigation, China said in January
that officials whose spouses and children had emigrated would not be
considered for promotion. (Reporting by Michael Martina;
editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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