Cheers, Ken Hanly
Ulhas Joglekar wrote:
> 27 February 2000
>
> China's President calls for clean living in high-profile trip
> BEIJING: President Jiang Zemin appealed for hard work and clean living from
> Communist Party officials while on a high-profile visit to southeast China,
> where corruption scandals have tarnished the party's image, state media
> reported on Saturday.
> Jiang said corrupt officials would be "punished according to the law to
> caution and educate the multitudes of officials and people," the People's
> Daily said in a front-page story about Jiang's trip earlier this week to
> southern Guangdong province. The Communist Party would only win the support
> of the Chinese people if works for their interests, Jiang said, renewing an
> appeal to the party's 61 million members to makes sacrifices for their
> country and return to "a style of hard struggle and clean living."
> Chinese Communists have maintained a monopoly on political power by
> suppressing dissent and emphasizing their leadership role in making China
> more prosperous. Nevertheless, rampant corruption for years has made many
> people lose faith in party leadership. In the biggest smuggling scandal of
> the communist era, high-ranking party officials in the Army, police and
> government are suspected of allowing U.S. $9.5 billion worth of cigarettes,
> oil, cars and other goods to be smuggled through the southeastern city of
> Xiamen, in Fujian province.
> The government has sent hundreds of investigators to Xiamen but has not
> publicly reported on the case. Chinese have heard of it from Hong Kong
> reports, Chinese Web sites and rumors. Two Guangdong customs officials were
> executed last year for their role in another large smuggling case. A senior
> official from neighboring Guangxi, National People's Congress Vice Chairman
> Cheng Kejie, is under investigation for corruption, according to Hong Kong
> media reports that Chinese officials refused to confirm or deny.
> Jiang made no public references to any of the major scandals. He insisted
> moral education of Communist Party officials could prevent them from
> violating the law, the reports in People's Daily and other papers said. But
> he acknowledged that the party was so large that it was difficult to manage
> and "there are many problems that need to be solved." (AP)
> For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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