Chinese Communist Party mounts fight against graft

China's outgoing leadership desperately wants to be remembered for putting up a strong fight against corruption before retiring at the 18th Party Congress from next Thursday.

But officials and the ever-vigilant netizens do not work together to help seal the legacy.

Even if the Government crows about her ruthless repression in graft-660,000 officials have been found guilty since 2007 or 360 a day-has a series of scandals exposed online in recent months greatly embarrassed of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

And the characters of lead in these scandals have all gotten comical nicknames.

There was "Watch brother", or ge biao, a homonym for male cousin in Chinese.

It went to Yang Dacai, 55, a work safety bureau chief in Shaanxi Province, which irked netizens when he was photographed smiling broadly on the scene of a fatal traffic accident has 36 people killed in August.

Netizens unearthed later photos of him which showed that he owned 10 very expensive watches, including a Vacheron Constantin. The Swiss timepiece is said to cost at least 200,000 yuan (US $ 32,000), more than half combined income of the household of 360,000 yuan that he and his family members a year. He was quickly fired and detained.

Then there was "Uncle property" or fang shu. An urban management official in Guangzhou Cai Bin, 56, called was fired and also taken for research last month after he was found to own 22 properties worth a total of 40 million yuan ($ 6.36 million). The story of a civil servant who makes approximately 10,000 yuan per month but managed to build such huge wealth stunned the country.

And if the two cases is not yet bad enough, a "Car Grandpa", or che ye, popped up on Wednesday. The nickname refers to a Shanxi forestry officer named Ren Linsheng who reportedly more than 10 luxury cars worth 20 million yuan and total properties amounting to 200 million yuan. Local authorities say that he owns only one car-a Mercedes Benz-but his properties.

A report by the New York Times last week showed the enormous wealth that belong to the members of the family of Premier Wen Jiabao. The newsapaper website has since been banned in China.

"These cases Show become really serious corruption," said anti-corruption expert Lin Zhe of the Central Party School, the top learning institution of CCP. They are also particularly painful for outgoing President Hu Jintao, who often to corruption as the biggest threat to CCP legitimacy has chosen.

The high-profile cases of deposed Chongqing main Bo Xilai and the railways of the former Minister Liu Zhijun be held up as examples of successful war the authorities on the prosthesis.

Corruption centers set up nationwide since 2010 to feed annually more than 700,000 civil servants are also mentioned as concrete evidence of the Government undertakes.

In reality, most observers say, corruption has become more rampant in the past 10 years under the administration of Hu-Wen.

An important reason, said the University of Nottingham analyst Wang Zhengxu, the growing economy, "resulting in more space for corrupt behaviour".

The dominant role of the State in the economy is also growing opportunities for officials tempted by bribes, he added.

Give his take, said Professor William Callahan of the University of Manchester that because corruption is seen more as a moral issue than as a "structural problem", this makes China's anti-corruption campaign ineffective.

"Rather than addressing the close connection between power and wealth in the State party, the objectives of the campaign a few individuals who, we are told, have personal moral problems," he added.

The bad news for CCP is that the problem is worse for the incoming leadership under Mr Xi Jinping could get, say observers.

Not afford to slacken in fighting graft or corrupt officials-not with an ever-eagle-eyed, vocal and Internet-savvy population ready to expose the dirty deeds to punish.

Corrupt officials are also more adept at hiding their crimes, so it will be more difficult to weed out the bad apples, said Prof. Lin. Instead of cash they ask for shopping cards and gifts instead, they observed.

If you want a chance of reining in graft, the new leaders need political reforms such as beefing up the judiciary.

Prof Lin said that the CCP should examine all options for the control of the prosthesis, including working with the public.

"Public attention can be a two-edged sword," she said.

"Yes, the scandals exposed by the public can hurt the party, but ... the public can also strengthen the fight against corruption."