Gov't tries to curb bribery
By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-19 08:40
From hero to zero in just three years: Such is the price of taking
bribes.
Luo Yaoxing, former director of Guangdong Disease Control and
Prevention Centre's immunity planning institute and a key figure in the fight
against SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) in 2003, has been detained on
suspicion of receiving bribes worth over 10 million yuan (US$1.25
million).
Nine other persons from the centre have been detained, and in
total they have racked up over 22 million yuan (US$2.71 million) in ill-gotten
gains. The case is still under investigation.
Luo and his colleagues are
among more than 400 bribe takers authorities in Guangdong Province have
uncovered during a special campaign against commercial bribery in the first half
of this year.
Commercial bribery occurs when a buyer takes a bribe to
perform a particular transaction.
"Commercial bribery is still a very
serious problem in the province," noted Zhang Xuejun, chief procurator of the
province.
"Procuratorial organs across the province will as ever attach
importance to such crimes."
"Those in charge of infrastructure
construction and land leasing, purchasers of medicines for the health system and
governmental procurers are particularly vulnerable to bribery. Procuratorial
organs will keep an even closer eye on them," he added.
Official
statistics indicate that the procuratorial organs in the province placed on file
for investigation 408 cases related to commercial bribery in the January-June
period. The cases involve 416 persons.
So far in the first half of this
year 10 senior provincial government officials and 70 middle-ranking officials
have been removed from their positions for receiving bribes or misappropriating
public funds, of which 145 million yuan (US$17.88 million) has been
recovered.
Ren Jiantao, a public administration professor with Sun
Yat-sen University, said the campaign was needed to root out corruption.
"The province's anti-bribery campaigns will prove a deterrent to
government officials and other public servants and help prevent bribery from
running riot," he said.
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