CRNTT: 

Democracy means supervision of public power. Judging from the corruption cases China has addressed in recent years, the country's anti-corruption situation is still complex and grave. What is your opinion on this matter? Thank you.

Tian Peiyan:

I'd like to take this question. Corruption is a common historical and social phenomenon in human society, which exists in all countries around the world. It is incompatible with the nature and principles of the CPC. Since its founding, our Party has been resolutely fighting against corruption. For a period before the Party's 18th National Congress, corruption was rather prominent in the country. Following the congress, our Party was deeply aware that corruption is the greatest threat to the Party's long-term governance. The fight against corruption is a matter of survival for the Party and the country, and therefore it is a major political battle that we cannot afford to lose, and also must not lose. Our Party is determined to honor its commitment to the 1.4 billion Chinese people by fighting corruption. No refuge has been excluded from the scope, no ground left unturned, and no tolerance shown in the fight against corruption. China has continued to impose tight constraints and maintain a tough stance and long-term deterrence, and has won a sweeping victory in the fight against corruption. Meanwhile, we are soberly aware that corruption has not been eradicated, and some areas are prone to corruption. The fight against corruption remains grave and complex, and will not stop. Our Party will continue to take integral and coordinated actions to raise the awareness, ability and resolve to resist corruption, and adopt effective measures to consolidate China's sweeping victory in the fight against corruption.

It is an important function of democracy to practice democratic oversight of public power and prevent its abuse and corruption. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the Party has emphasized that public power is, and will always be, exercised for the public good and that power is prescribed by law, and regulated, constrained, and supervised by legal means to restrain power in an institutional cage. The exercise of power has been brought under stricter supervision. The supervisory systems of the Party and the state have been improved, and the reform of supervision mechanism and system building in key sectors have been advanced. A supervision system has been established with intra-Party supervision playing the leading role and various kinds of supervision coordinating with each other, thus preventing the anomie of power and rent-seeking to the largest extent. The Party has upheld democratic oversight throughout the entire process of the exercise of power and given full play to the irreplaceable role of democratic oversight in preventing corruption, thus reducing existing corruption constantly and restraining the increase of corruption effectively. Many corrupt officials were exposed through tip-offs and complaint letters, and individual interviews during disciplinary inspections. The fact that a large number of corrupt officials were investigated and handled does not mean the malfunction of democracy but proves the effectiveness of democratic oversight. We firmly believe that with the development of China's democracy and political system, democratic oversight will be more powerful, and corrupt officials shall have nowhere to hide in China. Thank you.