Institutional mechanism essential to preempt abuse of power by officials

More than 18,000 people, mostly officials, were prosecuted in 2019 for abuse of power related to their professional positions nationwide, according to a national meeting of prosecutors on Saturday. The figure is an increase of 80 percent compared with the previous year, which highlights the fight against corruption must never waver.

The increase in the number of both cases and criminal suspects in the past year points to the resolve of the central authorities to crack down on such crimes and the increased intensity of the fight against the abuse of power at all levels.

The intensified campaign against organized crimes, which was launched by the central authorities in 2018, has played an important role in uncovering local officials who have acted as protective umbrellas for local criminal gangs. This is an important reason why the number of such criminal suspects has increased dramatically.

The most dramatic case is that of Sun Xiaoguo in Southwest China's Yunnan province, who was convicted of multiple crimes including rape and sentenced to death, but his mother and his stepfather pulled strings for his sentence to be reduced to life in prison and then to even lighter imprisonment terms. As many as 19 officials related to this case have been arrested and sentenced to different terms of imprisonment. It would have been impossible for so many officials to be apprehended without the intensified fight against organized crimes and those who patronize such crimes.

But the high number of both cases and criminal suspects also highlights that staunch efforts are needed to establish a mechanism to circumscribe the power in the hands of many local officials.

It is important to intensify the fight against organized crimes and those officials who have thrown their weight behind them. At the same time, it is no less important to build an institutional cage, which may effectively prevent officials, the top leaders in a work unit in particular, from holding absolute sway over everything their work units do.

With an increasing number of corrupt elements brought to justice, the fight against corruption and organized crimes does have a deterring effect.

Yet, an increasing number of new cases show that those with absolute power in hands may be tempted to misuse it whenever there is handy chance for them to exploit institutional loopholes to line their pockets.

Rome was not built in a day. A desirable mechanism to preempt abuse of power cannot be expected to be established overnight. But enough importance must be attached to the urgency of building such a mechanism as it is of great importance to the good governance of this country.