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Xi Jinping, one of the members of new seven-seat Politburo Standing Committee, delivers a speech after being appointed the new Communist Party of China leader last week.
BEIJING -- If corruption is allowed to run wild in China then the ruling Communist Party risks major unrest and the collapse of its rule, state media on Monday quoted Communist Party chief Xi Jinping as saying at one of his first major meetings since taking the role.
In unusually blunt language, Vice President Xi, who assumes Hu Jintao's job as head of state in March, said that graft was like "worms breeding in decaying matter" -- an old Chinese phrase meaning "ruin befalls those who are weak."
"In recent years, some countries have stored up problems over time leading to seething public anger, civil unrest and government collapse -- corruption has been an important factor in all this," state newspapers quoted Xi as telling a study session for the Politburo, the party's second-highest decision-making body.
"A great deal of facts tell us that the worse corruption becomes the only outcome will be the end of the party and the end of the state! We must be vigilant!" Xi was quoted as saying.
"Recently, our party has had serious discipline and legal cases of a despicable nature which has had a bad political effect and shocked people," he added, without naming any of these incidents.
In his remarks, Xi dwelled at length on the importance of the party's theoretical foundations in Marxism, Leninism and the ideas espoused by his predecessors, but said leaders also had to be mindful of the practical realities of running the country and to reconnect with the population.
Recent scandals
The period leading up to this month's party congress -- at which a new generation of leaders was unveiled -- was overshadowed by a scandal involving former political heavyweight Bo Xilai, once a contender for top leadership in the world's second-largest economy.
China's ruling Communist Party has selected Xi Jinping as the country's new leader. Xi faces a faltering economy, environmental issues, demands for political reforms, as well as rampant corruption and public cynicism. NBC's Ian Williams reports.
China's communists pick country's new leader
Bo was expelled from the party this year and faces possible charges of corruption and abuse of power, while his wife was jailed for murdering a British businessman.
Xi said that party members, especially those at senior levels, should not abuse their positions for personal gain, and that they were not above the law.
Officials "must also strengthen their management and control over their relations and those who work with them," Xi added.
The New York Times said last month that the family of Premier Wen Jiabao had accumulated at least $2.7 billion in "hidden riches," a report China labeled a smear.
PhotoBlog: Stuck behind the scenes as China's leadership changes hands
However, without an independent judiciary, efforts to fight graft will almost certainly falter, and the control-obsessed party has shown no sign of embarking on this reform.
Xi's language was unusually direct for a top leader, indicating his seriousness about the problem, but his speech gave few indications of how the party could better police itself, said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a political scientist at Hong Kong Baptist University.
"He used strong words. It was clearly a warning: 'We have to do something about this,'" Cabestan said. "Clearly, for him, the crux of the matter is corruption. The trouble is, of course, that he doesn't tell us much about what are going to be the efficient tools or weapons he will put together to fight corruption."
Read more on China from NBC's Behind the Wall
Critique of predecessors?
Xi also emphasized the need to narrow the gap between the party and the people in what seemed like an implicit critique of his predecessors, said Willy Lam, a political analyst at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Lam said Xi's frequent references to "the people" in his speech indicated that "the past two decades have resulted somehow in the people feeling alienated from the party."
"Now what he's saying is that from day one is that we shall stick to the people. We will do what the people want," Lam said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
It's surprising that China survived so long with such a perverted concept of Marxist-Leninist ideology!!!
I agree. But any unrest in China is surely going to hurt our economy.
Tells you something, right? It works, for that country. We can only hope that our way of governing is of the survivor type too. So far, we are borrowing from China, not the other way around.
Graft always ends up killing communism.
It played a huge role in killing communism in the old Soviet Union.
But an even bigger worry for China is the huge chasm that is forming between the rich and the poor.
This is guaranteed to result in civil unrest.
.
There is some real wisdom in China's new leader. It will be interesting to see what happens in China under his watch in the coming years
They've certainly lasted longer than they would have pursuing the pure concept of Marxist-Leninist ideology.
In 2010 alone there were at least 180,000 protests, riots and group petitioning against the Chinese government. This has been going on since at least Tiananmen Square, but is not reported in the west very much.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/world/asia/harassment-and-house-evictions-bedevil-even-chinas-well-off.html
They're not really communist...
*No one* is "really Communist" unless they're ancient Spartans. One can't have money in a Communist society.
This guy is learning well from his counterparts in Washington DC.
Talking about fixing the corruption, and talk about "change", and then just do business as usual.
The chances of the Communists changing their ways is no more likely than the chances of Washington DC changing its ways !
If Washington is any sign, then talk of change will turn into division and class warfare as a ruler with a poor track record fights to hold onto their job.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. A more centralized government is naturally more powerful and therefore more corrupt. Their government has no accountability to the people. As much as I complain about our government at least we are not stuck with their government.
Since Obama was idiotically voted in again our government will become bigger until it sticks to us like lint.
PM: Another damned conspiracy theory nut who dreams up BS and posts it as truth! The article is about China and you can't focus on anything but Obama. Geeeeeeeeezzz
Jerry we don't have a centralized government like China, but I would say we are more corrupt at this point. All you have to do is realize how much money is spent influencing elections and how long politicians have to kowtow to money to stay relevant..
As long as it takes mass money to be elected politicians will have to work for the money and what is best for money is not what is best for society
Yes, we have the best politicians money can buy...
I would not want to be a leader of any country because even if you say the right thing it's considered wrong. All countries have done wrong and if all we will focus on is the wrong mankind will never get it right.
Let it collapse. Humans are incapable of implementing successful Communism anyways.
"he doesn't tell us much about what are going to be the efficient tools or weapons." the very essence of Chinese government over the last decade.
I know China is far from perfect but the Chinese do seem to be more builders then warriors but corruption and pollution does seem to be their worst enemy.
absolutely no different here in the USA
he is right though, it is corruption that will make the downfall of their GOV reality,.. as for "tools" etc??.. nothing short of extreme radical measures will make a lick of difference,, and the corruptors are too deeply embedded in all the strategic points for any of these measures to have effect,.. it is an interesting connundrum,, on the one hand, they are becoming aware, on the other, the awareness is alerting those who are the problem to where they have to shore up the "appearance" of justice,,,note please?,"appearance",..look to see a few thrown to the dogs as "appeasement" measures,, and then it will be bussiness as usual for the corrupt,,,We! should be watching all this very closely,, we have somewhat the same problems after all,,,If! "the rights of the many outweigh the rights of the few",, truly?.. then the many, have had enough,, there is a line there,, dont cross it, or "things" ahem will! happen,,,interesting language they use isnt it??..the "words" are there, but the true meaning! is not,,, very interesting,, use of language can tell us many things that are supposed to be hidden, and yet, they will come out,,..so be it...
What an odd "moral squint" this man has. "Graft" will destroy the Party and cause it to lose credibility with the Chinese people, but decades of the Party stifling freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and artistic expression, and clamping down on ethnic peoples, destroying cultural monuments, and invading Tibet, has not?
Nope. Completely different culture and values system. The #1 priority of the Chinese government, extending back to the Imperial dynasties, has been social stability at any cost. (New) religion, free speech and artistic expression are awfully effective ways of destabilizing a society. The last thing the Chinese government wants is their own version of the 1960s U.S. countercultural movement
Maybe Xi, with time, can change the culture of China to a degree. What degree is naturally up to him. If he is truely serious, then time will be on his side. He has enough years, barring catastrophe, to at least make some kind of change.
At least the people of China can only hope he does follow through on his tough words. That is if he's allowed to follow through by the oligarchs that actually rule the country.
They (China) have made vast improvements in human development, way faster than I anticipated from Presidents Nixon’s visit. And now with the information age and its tools I believe it’s impossible (barring an extreme catastrophe) to stop that progress. However, change always has its volatility. It’s just when these eruptions will occur, and if they can be managed.
Perhaps president Xi has read a bit of Konstantin Simis :)
Like any other politician in most other countries, the closer you get to the top, the more well off you become. I'm sure this guy probably has a pretty decent portfolio himself. Politics in China, or any communist country for that matter is a lot mote cutthroat than in it is here. Perhaps somebody should be standing behind this guy and whispering in his ear that old quote from Confucius "People that live in glass houses should not throw stones."
More likely a guy at his back with a knife telling him what to say and do...
Well??? It sure doesn't help our country either. What rocket scientist thought that up?
XI.....Welcome to the world of capitalism.....where corruption is the rule and not the exception....Good luck trying to have it both ways.....
Communism is like a large corporation.
Big government and big business have much the same problems. Which makes it all the more confusing that liberals hate big business with a passion, yet LOVE big government no matter how corrupt.
LB... Great point... but it's not confusing... Libbies can recruit more when they have a common foe such as corporations... Plus government offers the libbies free money.. out of the pockets of sucsessful people. Personally I think libbies are leeches wanting more and more free stuff. After all, they can't say how much tax is enough for them.
China is the most capitalistic communist country in the history of the world.
China model of one-party praternalistic government works wonder in China. The Chinese people are happy with the current government which brings them prosperity and well beings. They generally are apolitical to the western concept of one man one vote and individual freedom. To the Chinese the collective welfare of the state is above the individual freedom.
The west tends to view China through their own prism with their value and perspective. They are doomed to failure
In Communism, everyone is SUPPOSED to be totally equal and share EVERYTHING equally. Of course, the world knows that is NOT how communism is implemented around the globe. Communist leaders take whatever they can, create special benefits for themselves and their families and generally lie to the population while enforcing strict compliance at lower levels of society...just like in every other type of government. To quote "Animal Farm"..."All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others." Big government is always corrupt, no matter what label you put on it.