Prompted by comments made by the vice-director of the Party Literature Research Office of the Party’s Central Committee during his recent visit to New Delhi, The Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time blog examines differences in the two countries’ approaches to rooting out corruption:
Indian political scientists often look enviously at China’s one-party political system, viewing it as more efficient and more capable of curbing problems like corruption. But, as in India, Chinese leaders are increasingly identifying corruption as a major problem, with Premier Wen Jiabao saying earlier this year it could lead to instability in the country.
While both India and China suffer from endemic corruption, they differ in their approaches to handling corruption cases. In India, the cases go through lengthy court proceedings amid a huge backlog of cases. China, on the other hand, has been dealing with the corrupt officials in recent years more aggressively—and, critics say, repressively ….
Perhaps taking a cue from their northern neighbor, some of India’s recent anti-corruption crusaders like Baba Ramdev have been demanding capital punishment for those convicted of corruption.
“Corruption can happen to any political party in the world,” said Mr. Chen, adding that the Communists were “committed to combat corruption effectively because we want to be the ruling party for a longer time.”
