Capitalists invest capital to make profits, so they are a necessary part of the capitalist enterprise. State officials, however, invest public funds. They are supposed to serve the people without personal gain. As the Party controls the state and administration, the behavior of these officials directly reflects on the public image of the Party. Encounters with the state, even with petty officials, are often riddled with bureaucratic obstructions which can only be overcome by the grease of corruption. Often, corruption appears to be systemically anchored into the very functioning of power.

While the immense progress of China's economy and society is easily measured in statistics and is felt by the masses in their rising living standards, progress is a relative phenomenon. If a poor peasant becomes a migrant worker and can send 500 yuan home each month, then what is this compared to an official who takes a 5 million yuan bribe for a permit to build luxury apartments? In conditions of extraordinary economic growth and private accumulation, intercourse between private capital and state officialdom has become a normal and daily routine. The temptations on offer by the globally connected capitalist class could corrupt a saint.

Even some of those who have strong revolutionary traditions in their families have succumbed to its lure. The desire to gain access to inner decision-making networks -- that determine the allocation of China's colossal state resources and influence decisions about access to state banking and investment capital -- means that the relatives and friends of top officials become prime targets for cultivation. Such networks of personal associations are approached from all directions: by Chinese and foreign business interests; by legitimate and criminal groups; and even by gold digging lovers and foreign secret services. The global terrain within which these processes operate makes identifying and acting on these corrosive influences extremely difficult.

CPC membership surpassed 85 million in 2013, of which college graduates made up 40 percent. This provides the Party with a cadre equipped with high proficiency and skills in scientific and technical fields, as well as competent government administrators. Yet the class composition of the Party has still failed to adequately reflect the growth of the manual and service sectors, as well as of the number of migrant workers. However, membership of the All China Federation of Trade Unions reached over 280 million in 2013.

Article 2 of the Communist Party constitution states that, "Members of the Communist Party of China are vanguard fighters of the Chinese working class, imbued with communist consciousness." The mass line in the struggle against corruption is a form of class struggle against the threat of capitalist restoration. The core of Communist Party power remains the public sector of the economy. If workers can be drawn into the battle against corruption -- as conscious agents of supervision and control -- through democratic trade unions and staff and workers' representative councils, then the success of the present drive against corruption can act as a springboard to reinvigorate the socialist consciousness of the masses.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://china.org.cn/opinion/heikokhoo.htm

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