Ex-top judge urges graft task force

[jayanthi mandhalapu]

A controversial former top judge, understood by some media outlets last year to be the subject of a corruption investigation, has suggested in a new book that China sets up a special team to probe alleged graft.

Scholars said the idea of establishing a unified State-level anti-corruption organ, proposed in the postscript of Xiao Yang's new book, was a step in the right direction. But they said the concept put forward by the former president of the Supreme People's Court was "hardly realistic" in the existing political and judicial system.

Xiao's book, Anti-corruption Report, was formally released yesterday by the Legal Press. In it, Xiao says corruption in China is the result of a lack of supervision and the absence of a sound anti-graft mechanism.

He called for the setting up of a unified State-level organization capable of adjusting and optimizing existing anti-graft resources, which are presently scattered throughout many disparate departments.

He suggested that the organization be elected by, and report to, the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature. The Congress could make the necessary laws to grant the organ the power to receive public reports and investigate possible corruption cases, as well as the authority to detain and arrest officials who refuse to declare their property.

Xiao suggested officials be better-paid, to minimize their vulnerability to potential bribes, and the media be given the supervision power and ability to expose corruption.

Anti-graft investigations are currently undertaken by a combination of representatives from various government and judicial organs, involving procuratorates, police and supervision departments.