How to take the anti-graft drive forward

The Chinese media and the Internet are full of speculations on how the top leadership will continue the anti-corruption campaign after putting former security chief Zhou Yongkang under investigation. A former member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Zhou is the highest-ranking official facing investigation for corruption since the launch of reform in the late 1970s. As Chinese often say, Zhou is the "biggest tiger" to be trapped in the anti-corruption net.

Although people have welcomed the probe against Zhou, they are asking what turns will the anti-corruption campaign and the overall political development take now? Will the campaign taper off? And what long-term effects will the anti-corruption campaign leave?

The official press is busy trying to answer these questions. Shortly after Zhou was put under investigation, a commentary on gmw.cn went on to say hunting down a "big tiger" cannot be the ultimate goal of the crackdown on corruption. Instead, the goal should be to use the opportunity to deepen government reforms, and to wipe out bad officials' influence in ways prescribed by the law. The power vacuum created by the anti-corruption campaign must be filled through institutional methods.