Dare Not Corrupt, Cannot Corrupt and Do Not Want to Corrupt

"Making Party cadres not dare, not able, and not want to commit corruption" is the basic idea put forward by the CPC Central Committee to build an effective anti-corruption mechanism since the 18th CPC National Congress. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has regarded cracking down on corruption as an important task for comprehensively strengthening Party discipline in current period.

In 2013, Xi Jinping proposed at the 2nd Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that we must make sure that power is “caged” by the system, and form a punishment mechanism to deter corruption, a warning mechanism to prevent corruption and a guarantee mechanism to curb corruption. At the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in 2014, he proposed that we must strengthen the education of ideals and beliefs and enhance the sense of purpose, so that leading cadres “do not want to commit corruption”; we must strengthen institutional innovation and system construction, improve supervision and management, and implement strict discipline, so that leading cadres are not able to commit corruption; we must ensure that all cases of corruption are investigated and prosecuted, so that leading cadres “do not dare to commit corruption”.

In the same year, the 4th Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee officially proposed to “form an effective mechanism making Party officials not dare, not able, and not want to commit corruption to resolutely deter and prevent corruption”. In view of the emergence and spread of corruption under the conditions of Reform and Opening-up, the Party insists on reforming and opening up with one hand, and at the same time punishes corruption and unswervingly carrying out anti-corruption construction. We have achieved remarkable results in ensuring that our leading cadres are clean, honest and self-disciplined, that major corruption cases are investigated and dealt with and that malpractices in departments and trades and services must be corrected. We also made good progress in punishing corrupt officials, strengthening system construction, enhancing supervision over leading cadres, and controlling commercial bribery. We have carried out reform of the anti-corruption work system, restored and reconstructed the Party's discipline inspection organs at all levels, set up supervision departments in the government system, anti-corruption bureaus in procuratorates, and the National Bureau for Corruption Prevention. The discipline inspection organs and supervision departments are co-located, and the discipline inspection organs and supervision departments implement vertical leadership and unified management for accredited institutions. We have formulated and implemented the “CPC Regulations on Disciplinary Punishments”, the “Code of Conduct for CPC Leading Cadres to Perform Official Duties with Integrity”, the “Provisions on Implementing Responsibility System in Improving the Party Conduct and Constructing a Clean Government, the CPC Regulations on the Intra-Party Supervision (Trial)”, and other important intra-Party regulations.

In particular, in 2005, the CPC Central Committee promulgated the “Implementation Outline of Establishing and Improving the System of Punishing and Preventing Corruption with Equal Stress on Education, System and Supervision”, marking that the anti-corruption construction entered a new development stage. It is the most important function of supervision and discipline to ensure the correct operation of power by restricting power and punishing abuse of power. We restrict and regulate the conduct of leading cadres and make them “not able to commit corruption” with strict institutional norms. From the perspective of post-investigation, we strengthen negative education, so that Party members and leading cadres can fully realize the harm of violating laws and regulations, and make them “not dare to commit corruption” by strengthening the warning function. We constantly improve the ideological realm, supervision consciousness and sense of discipline of Party members and leading cadres, and make them “not want to commit corruption” by enhancing their “immunity”. In short, we must constantly strengthen the system construction of “making Party officials not able to commit corruption”, the disciplinary warning of “making Party officials not dare to commit corruption” and the quality education of “making Party officials not want to commit corruption”, and strive to specialize and strengthen the work of combating corruption and upholding integrity. To make Party officials not dare, not able, and not want to commit corruption, we must strengthen institutional improvement.

In the 24th collective study of the Political Bureau of the 18th CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping pointed out that we can build a “dam” to curb the emergence and spread of corruption and promote the formation of an effective mechanism making Party officials not dare, not able, and not want to commit corruption only by building systems, establishing rules, implementing the improvement of laws and regulations in all aspects of anti-corruption and power restriction and supervision, and exerting the incentives and constraints of laws and regulations. Based on domestic and abroad practices, we can effectively eradicate the living space and breeding ground of corruption only by insisting on implementing law-based severe punishment to form a disciplinary mechanism and deterrence making Party officials not dare to commit corruption, persisting in improving laws and regulations to form a preventive mechanism making Party officials not able to commit corruption, and adhering to strengthening ideological education, to enhance the self-discipline consciousness and form moral defense line making Party officials not want to commit consciousness.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party has formed the institutional mechanism making Party officials not dare, not able, and not want to commit corruption, focused on solving the problem of being "lax, slack, and lenient" in Party self-governance. Not only have we created a deterrent so that Party officials dare not to commit corruption, we have also yielded initial results in our efforts to ensure that Party officials are not able and do not want to commit corruption. All this indicates that the fight against corruption is in the process of gathering unstoppable momentum. In October 2016, the 6th Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee reviewed and adopted the “Code of Conduct for Intra-Party Political Activities under New Circumstances” and the “CPC Regulations on the Intra-Party Supervision”, emphasizing that the focus of strengthening and regulating intra-Party political activities under new circumstances is leading organs and leading cadres at all levels and the key is the supervision over senior cadres. It emphasizes that building a clean government and resolutely opposing corruption are important tasks to strengthen and standardize the intra-Party political activities. It also points out that we must build a strong ideological defense line and institutional defense line against corruption and degeneration; focus on building an institutional mechanism making Party officials not dare, not able, and not want to commit corruption.

This will surely create a good political ecology for economic and social development by promoting the building of a upright and clean cadre contingent, clean government and political integrity in the ranks of the Party.