Huanqiu: The Key to Governing China Is to Control its Officials

“While in the history of Chinese society the people’s rebellions have often resulted in a collapse, the cause of such rebellions has often been a corrupt bureaucracy or social governance errors. The internal rifts among government officials have repeatedly led to national unrest and even ‘subjugation.’” 

The urgency of the problem is based on four factors: First, some government officials believe that they are above the law. To them, civil servant is a synonym for the State’s system of welfare benefits. Second, the market economy has eroded the morality based on “serving the people” and the State has not yet developed a supplemental political force to fill the gap. Third, the Internet has suddenly put an invisible power in the spotlight. It tends to magnify the improper behavior of government officials. Fourth, in China, government officials have much greater power than their counterparts in Western countries.