Global Times editorial

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Xi Jinping stressed in a report to the 20th CPC National Congress that the CPC must meet the overall requirements for Party building in the new era and improve the system for exercising full and rigorous self-governance. Among them is “winning tough, protracted battle against corruption.” Since the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, the country’s discipline inspection and supervision authorities have filed more than 4.6 million cases, with formal criminal cases brought against 553 centrally administered officials, 25,000 officials of leading roles of departments or equivalents and 182,000 officials at the county level. The “battle against corruption on a scale unprecedented in history” has achieved overwhelming victory and been fully consolidated. 

People have noticed that the topic of anti-corruption has become less popular compared with 10 years ago, which is the true manifestation of the overwhelming victory in the fight against corruption at the social level. Relevant social controversies have become less, which shows that they have more trust and confidence in the anti-corruption work of the Party and the country. The iron-clad facts convince people that anti-corruption can be carried out so thoroughly – no one can be exempted, no matter the region or field, no matter in-service or retirement. Corrupt officials are bound to be held accountable. Now, who would consider this “a campaign-style approach to anti-corruption”? Who dares not to be in awe of the Party’s Eight-Point Regulation?

If we look back today, we can feel more of the weight of the anti-corruption pledge Xi made after the 18th CPC National Congress, “No matter who it is, or how senior their position, if they violate Party discipline or national law, they will be seriously dealt with and punished. This is not an empty sentence.” Frankly speaking, 10 years ago, there were indeed many people who doubted the CPC could completely fight corruption, and they even thought it was unsustainable. Corruption is a chronic disease that has not been eradicated in human society for thousands of years. It is still a common problem faced by all countries, especially in the process of industrialization. How will the CPC solve it?

The deterrence of “don’t dare to be corrupt” is fully demonstrated, the cage of “can’t be corrupt” is getting firmer, and the consciousness of “don’t want to be corrupt” has been significantly enhanced. The overwhelming victory in the fight against corruption profoundly shows that the CPC is a party that has the courage to reform itself and fighting corruption is the most thorough kind of self-reform there is. In reality, a large number of developing countries have fallen into political turmoil due to the difficulty in solving the problem of corruption, and their economic and social development has also stagnated, while Western political parties are generally inseparable from capital, and they even speak on behalf of capital. “Legalizing corruption” and “compromising to corruption” are what many people think of Western polities. 

Against this background, the great achievement the CPC has made in fighting corruption by relying on its institutional and legal advantages in the new era is not only historic, but also of global significance.

In the decade of the new era, the people’s satisfaction with the construction of a clean government and anti-corruption work has risen from 75 percent 10 years ago to 97.4 percent. In this process, many misunderstandings have been corrected. The fantasies of “getting rich and being promoted” have fallen flat, and the admonition that “being an official and getting rich must be separated” is awakening; a large number of stubborn and chronic diseases have also been eliminated. The corruption on the tip of the tongue, the corruption on the wheel, and the unruly customs in the clubhouse have been lambasted. A few years ago, when the world was paying attention to China’s miracle, Singapore’s Lianhe Zaobao reiterated that in addition to the story of economic growth, China has a story that may be “less eye-catching” – a story of restoring civilization.

The reason why the CPC dares to reform itself is not only courage, but also its nature – it represents the fundamental interests of the vast majority of the Chinese people, it has no special interests of its own, and it never represents the interests of any interest groups, any power groups, or any privileged class. 

It is precisely in order to ensure that the Party “preserves its essence, color and character” that came the political courage of “offending a few thousand rather than fail 1.4 billion,” and the various campaigns of “fighting tigers,” “swatting flies” and “hunting foxes.” This is not only a vivid reflection of the purpose and nature of the CPC, but also an important starting point for the outside world to observe and understand the CPC in the new era.

In his report to the 20th CPC National Congress, Xi said, “As long as the breeding grounds and conditions for corruption still exist, we must keep sounding the bugle and never rest, not even for a minute, in our fight against corruption.”In a sense, the fight against corruption is also credibility building. The political commitment of the CPC is by no means just a lip service. The political character of fitting its deeds to its words and the political ability to do what it says are also demonstrated through the fight against corruption. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the CPC in the new era has united and led the people to achieve the set goals with its unswerving commitment, be it the fight against poverty, the protracted battles of preventing and resolving financial risks, or the battle to bring back blue skies.

“It takes 10 years to forge a perfect sword.” Time will continue to prove that with the Party’s self-reform leading the social reform, the CPC has not only a clear attitude, but also real actions. This kind of endowment and characteristics and this vision and responsibility are the development logic and victory code of the world’s largest ruling party. 

反腐敗，世界讀懂中共的重要切入點

《環球時報》社評

人們注意到，反腐敗的話題熱度與十年前相比降溫了不少，這正是反腐敗鬥爭取得壓倒性勝利在社會層面的真實體現。社會上相關的爭議少了，說明對黨和國家的反腐工作更信任、更踏實了。鐵一般的事實使人們確信，反腐敗這件事原來可以進行得如此徹底——誰也沒有免罪的「丹書鐵券」，誰也不是「鐵帽子王」，不論地區領域，不論在職退休，該開刀就開刀，該清除就清除。現在，還有誰會認為這是一場「運動式反腐」呢？還有誰敢不對黨的八項規定心存敬畏呢？

今天回過頭來看，更能感受到習近平總書記在十八大後反腐承諾的分量：「不論什麼人，不論其職務多高，只要觸犯了黨紀國法，都要受到嚴肅追究和嚴厲懲處，決不是一句空話。」坦率地說，十年前確實有不少人對中國共產黨能否徹底反腐敗心存疑慮，甚至認為不具有可持續性。腐敗是人類社會幾千年未能根治的痼疾，至今仍是世界各國特別是在工業化進程中普遍面臨的難題，中國共產黨憑什麼能破解？

「不敢腐」的震懾充分彰顯，「不能腐」的籠子越扎越牢，「不想腐」的自覺顯著增強——反腐敗鬥爭取得壓倒性勝利深刻表明，中國共產黨是勇於自我革命的黨，反腐敗就是最徹底的自我革命。現實中，大量發展中國家因難以解決貪腐問題而陷入政治動蕩，經濟社會發展也因此停滯；而西方政黨則普遍與資本密不可分，甚至成為資本的代言人，「腐敗合法化」和「向腐敗妥協」是很多人對西方政體的認識。在這種背景下，新時代中國共產黨依靠制度優勢、法治優勢反腐敗的偉大成就，不僅是歷史性的，也具有全球意義。

新時代十年，人民群眾對黨風廉政建設和反腐敗工作的滿意度從10年前的75%上升到97.4%。在這個過程中，許多錯誤認知得到矯正，「升官發財」的迷夢幻滅了，「當官發財應兩道」的告誡振聾發聵；大量頑瘴痼疾也被清除，舌尖上的腐敗、車輪上的腐敗、會所里的歪風，成了人人喊打的過街老鼠。幾年前，當世界紛紛關注中國奇跡的時候，新加坡《聯合早報》就提醒：在經濟增長的故事以外，中國還有一個也許「較不搶眼」的故事——一個文明重建的故事。

中國共產黨之所以敢於刀刃向內、敢於刮骨療毒、敢於壯士斷腕，這不僅是勇氣擔當，也是性質使然——因為她代表中國最廣大人民的根本利益，沒有任何自己特殊的利益，從來不代表任何利益集團、任何權勢團體、任何特權階層的利益。正是為了確保黨「不變質、不變色、不變味」，才有了「得罪千百人、不負十四億」的政治勇氣，才有了「打虎」「拍蠅」「獵狐」的多管齊下，這不僅是宗旨和性質的生動體現，也應是外界觀察、讀懂新時代中國共產黨的重要切入點。

在黨的二十大報告中，習近平總書記強調，「只要存在腐敗問題產生的土壤和條件，反腐敗鬥爭就一刻不能停，必須永遠吹衝鋒號」。從某種意義上說，反腐敗鬥爭也是公信力建設。中國共產黨的政治承諾決不是說說而已，說話算話的政治品格，說到做到的政治能力，也通過反腐敗鬥爭展現出來。黨的十八大以來，脫貧攻堅戰、防範化解金融風險攻堅戰、藍天保衛戰，新時代的中國共產黨都以咬定青山不放鬆的執著擔當，團結帶領人民奮力實現了既定目標。

「十年磨一劍，一刻不停歇」。時間也將不斷證明，以黨的自我革命引領社會革命，中國共產黨不僅有鮮明態度，更有實際行動。這種稟賦和特質，這種格局和擔當，正是這個世界第一大執政黨的發展邏輯和勝利密碼。