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China’s Anticorruption Crusade Is Reaching a Turning Pointby Meng Lu |
Xi Jinping is 18 month into his presidency and almost as long into his anticorruption crusade in China. As Wall Street Journal noted as
early as May 2013, anticorruption purges are hardly new in China,
but President Xi seems to be pursuing his anticorruption drive with
unprecedented vigour and commitment. Zhou Yongkang, the newest and arguably most prominent casualty of the purge, is evidence that this time is different. Shannon Tiezzi recently made the same underlying point in a piece in the Diplomat. Ms. Tiezzi takes issue with the oft-repeated claim that
President Xi is only using anticorruption to weaken political rivals
and promote his allies; she points out that while President Xi is indeed
using the purge to his advantage, political infighting couldn’t be his
sole motivation, since if it were “he would likely be winding down the
campaign now.”
I
don’t disagree with Ms. Tiezzi’s point. President Xi’s anticorruption
drive--the centerpiece of his tenure so far--has undoubtedly gone
further than others before him. More than 182,000 party members,
including 17 high-ranking officials, have been punished for corruption
since the beginning of his presidency. Yet despite this progress, recent
signals suggest that his campaign might be significantly curtailed in
the near future.
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