The execution of a former justice chief in Chongqing Wednesday should not stall efforts to ensure that China's public security apparatus is rid of corrupt officials.

In fact, if anything, Wen Qiang's conviction and death must be the first step in cleansing the Augean stables.

The former director of Chongqing's municipal bureau of justice (and deputy police chief before that) was the biggest fish netted in last year's crackdown on organized crime in this southwestern city.

More than a dozen of his colleagues at the city's public security bureau too have been convicted for aiding organized crime gangs to flourish in the city of 30 million. A large number of senior police officers were part of the nexus, and that is certainly worrying.

It shows just how vulnerable the nation's public security officers have become to the lure of easy money.

Wen Qiang and his colleagues had a long history of providing protection to criminal gangs. He had also accepted bribes from subordinates in lieu of favorable promotions.

Wen's fall is a blow to the country's supervision mechanism, which seems impotent at best. His execution should serve as a reminder to all public servants to act according to the law; it will only be a matter of time before offenders under the radar are caught out.

The Wen saga shows just how important it is to build an effective supervision mechanism that will prevent security providers from abusing the power vested in them.

It is time to make the nation's watchdogs bite.