Corrupt officials caught in Web

Just as the CPC's new leadership has taken a zero tolerance stance on corruption and vowed to hold any and all violators accountable, a fierce public anti-corruption campaign has also been launched on the Internet, and several officials have been investigated and brought to justice based on evidence submitted online.

The demise of Liu Tienan is a good example of this.

On December 6, 2012, Luo Changping, deputy editor-in-chief of Caijing, a popular investigative magazine, alleged on his real-name microblog that Liu was involved in multiple offenses, including huge bank loan frauds and the fabrication of his academic qualifications.

Liu was later removed from his post and investigated for suspected "grave violations of discipline".

According to a report exposing corruption-related cases released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in May 2013, new media has outperformed traditional media with regard to exposing corruption.

From 2010 to 2012, 156 confirmed cases of corruption were brought to light via new media channels, such as Internet news releases, online forums, microblogs and organizations' official websites.

The figure is double the number of corruption cases exposed by traditional media, including newspapers and television, according to the Annual Report on Development of New Media in China, with most cases centering on disciplinary violations by officials, regulation violations, abuses of power and ethical issues.

Corruption: A global issue

The CPC's anti-corruption drive comes at a time when the problem of corruption is very much a global issue and many people worldwide are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the political process.

On July 8, 2013, Transparency International released the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer, which draws on a survey of more than 114,000 respondents in 107 countries, addressing people's direct experiences with bribery and detailing their opinions on corruption in their countries' major institutions.

The survey found that bribery is widespread around the globe, with 27 percent of respondents reporting that they had paid a bribe in the last 12 months when interacting with public institutions and services.

More than 1 in 2 people (54 percent) thought that their government is largely or entirely run by groups acting in their own interests rather than for the benefit of citizens.

For more information on the 2013 Global Corruption Barometer, please click on the following hyperlink for the website of Transparency International.

"If every CPC member and every grassroots organ has a strong sense of responsibility and does a good job, the Party will be strong, the country will be strong and people will be strong. Thus, the Party's rule will have a solid foundation."

                                                                                                               --- Xi Jinping, July 11, 2013