Commentary: Senior leaders must lead by example in fight against corruption

Almost everyone in China is talking about TV this month.

"In the Name of the People," a 55-episode drama about corrupt officials covering for each other under the influence of a "former provincial top leader."

For senior leaders in real life, however, the drama is not entirely fictional.

Take North China's Hebei Province for example. The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) announced Tuesday that Yang Chongyong, a senior legislator in Hebei, was being investigated for "severe disciplinary violations."

Before Yang, four other senior provincial leaders had been investigated since Nov. 2014, including former provincial Party chief Zhou Benshun.

Investigations have found that if a top leader of a region or sector is corrupt, they "contaminate" their subordinates.

When a leader is more concerned with the wellbeing of their own inner circle they pollute everything they touch.

Su Rong was a former vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Su is now spending life behind bars for graft.

Su's bad influences set the worst examples for officials in East China's Jiangxi Province. During his time as party chief, Su operated a inner circle and sold official positions for money.

To repair the damage senior officials must lead by example. They would do well to learn from the work being done by the CPC central leadership to improve the work style.

With enhanced supervision, senior leaders at various levels must become immune to corruption.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012, the CCDI had investigated over 200 senior officials. In 2016 alone, it had punished 76 officials of ministerial level and over 2,700 senior officials at the prefecture level.

The anti-corruption campaign has been welcomed by the public and should be a warning to all senior leaders. Endi