Catch the corruption of flies, so they can't become tigers: China Daily editorial

It is rare for the word "especially" to be used three times to describe the corruption of a high-ranking official. But that is how the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Supervision Commission jointly announced that Lai Xiaomin, former Party secretary and chairman of the board of Huarong Asset Management, had been removed from office and expelled from the Party.

In a statement they described Lai's corruption as "especially serious", the nature of his abuse of power as being "especially abominable" and said that people's aversion to what he had done would be "especially strong".

Justification for the repeated use of the word comes from the fact that 270 million yuan ($39 million) in cash was found at Lai's home and the charges that "he pursued personal glorification, engaged in superstitious activities and refused to cooperate in the investigation".

In fact as was made clear, Lai spared no efforts in obtaining personal gains by whatever means possible, as he led an extremely extravagant and decadent life, including having a lot of mistresses.

"As a Party member in a position of leadership, Lai lost his ideals and convictions, showing no Party consciousness or commitment to Party principles," the statement said.

Little wonder he was said to have no moral sense at all.

Digging out such a rotten apple is certainly an achievement of the Party's anti-graft fight. Yet, this case itself does provide some food for thought, since it is obvious that Lai did not acquire such a large sum in bribes in a single day. He must have been taking bribes for years. That he could remain in his position while abusing his power for so long suggests that the supervision of both the Party and government institutions still leaves something to be desired.

What is even more surprising is the fact that his wrongdoings had been reported to watchdogs many times by informants. He should have been busted years earlier had the supervisory departments paid enough attention to the tipoffs.

That corrupt elements can rise up the hierarchy of officialdom shows that supervision needs to be tightened to catch the "flies" before they become "tigers".

Of course, it would be even better if preventive mechanism could function effectively to ensure that it was impossible for officials to become "flies".