1、We Need More Than Hunting “Tigers”and “Flies”Since the 18th Party Congress， about 20 provincial and ministerial-level officials have been investigated and punished in Chinas crackdown on corruption. When the central government gets more and more serious about the “tiger-hunting”， there is a another
2、voice rising from common people： “Big tigers are too far to care. Its the flies that bothers us every day.” Indeed， when it comes to anti-corruption， catching flies is just as important as hunting tigers， and continual exposure of corruptive officials proves that there is still a long way to go in t
3、he battle against corruption. For the puprose of propaganda， the higher-ranked the official is， the better the exemplary effect is. High level corruption cases always attract more attention from the society. However， legally speaking， there is no substantial difference between a provincial official
4、and a lower-ranked one in conviction， and the measurement of penalty usually doesnt take titles of the corruptive officials into consideration. As a matter of fact， sometimes grassroots-level officials could be shockingly bold in violation of law and also as harmful for local society. For instance，
5、Li Huabo， the former official of Financial Administration of Poyang County， Jiangxi Province， fled with stolen public assets worth 94 million yuan in 2011 and shocked the whole nation， and he was just a Construction Subsection Chief which is one of the most insignificant titles in Chinas political h
6、ierarchy. In 2012， Li Ji， former mayor of Sanya Haitang Bay of Hainan Province， was sentenced to death with a reprieve for taking 14.4-million-yuan bribe and caused 700 million loss to the country. In 2013， Hou Fucai， former CPC Chief of Weinan Municipal Bureau of UrbanRural Development of Shaanxi P
7、rovince， got charged for taking over 200 million yuan bribe and holding a property worth 300 million yuan with unidentified sources. Based on above， “flies” are not necessarily small in size and some of them are no less dangerous than “tigers”. From this point of view， its unreasonable to deliberate
8、ly categorize anti-corruption battles into tiger-hunting and flies-catching. Moreover， it could be misleading by sending people a message that “tigers” are lethal while “flies” are just irritating， so hunting “tigers” should be a priority in the anti-corruption battle. In fact， to the nation a secti
9、on chief is just a “fly”， but to local society he or she is a “tiger”. There should be no priority in hunting. The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection also proposed in its 2nd plenum that fights against“tigers” and “flies” should be carried out simultaneously. On one hand， the “tigers” need
10、 to be declawed before putting behind bars. As Lord Acton said， “power tends to corrupt， and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. “Tigers”with sharp claws will gain absolute power if they are not chained or caged. History teaches us that the best way to clear out corruption is not to kill off all th
11、e “tigers” but to pull out their teeth and claws. History also teaches us that no country can 100 percent effectively cure the greediness of public servants， but it is possible to reduce corruption and graft systematically. As President Xi Jingping said， the government needs to “enhance the supervis
12、ion and restriction on power by putting it in system cage”. Only a perfect mechanism can declaw the “tigers”and suppress the overspread of corruption. On the other hand， elimination of “flies” requires good“hygiene conditions”. Corruption and graft exists because there are opportunities for “money-p
13、ower trade” in the system. To destroy the hotbed is the only way to be free from corruption. The executive meeting of Chinas State Council is pushing the reform of administrative approval procedures as an approach to improve effectiveness in public administration and a support for anti-corruption ca
14、mpaign. The power of administrative approval is another breeding ground for corruption， therefore to abolish unnecessary approval procedures or to delegate them to local government is considered an important act against corruption. In Chinas economic society， there are more areas that require cleaning. When catching “flies”， dont forget to destroy their nests.
