November 08, 2012
BEIJING — China’s once-in-a-decade leadership transition began Thursday, with a warning from the country’s outgoing leader. In a long and wide-ranging speech to mark the beginning of China’s 18th Party Congress, President Hu Jintao warned that the party and even the country are facing fatal challenges if it does not do more to deal with the problem of corruption.
In his final remarks as leader of the political party that single-handedly rules 1.3 billion people and charts the course for the world’s second-largest economy, President Hu had a warning for the Chinese Communist party.
“Opposing corruption and building an honest and clean government is a clear stance the party has been adhering to and is an important political issue the people have been paying attention to. If we fail to handle this issue [corruption] well, it could prove fatal to the party and even cause the collapse of the party and the fall of the state,” he said.
Chinese President Hu Jintao delivers his address at the opening of the 18th Communist Party Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, November 8, 2012.
Hu made his remarks at Beijing’s massive Great Hall of the People, during the opening of the 18th party congress, a major political event in China which is held once every five years.
His comments could not have been more timely. This year’s meeting has been largely overshadowed by a murder and corruption scandal involving one of the party’s once-rising stars Bo Xilai.
The remarks resonated with Yu Jingzi, a delegate from Shanghai.
“It’s fair to say that it’s not just this year that has seen an attention-grabbing case involving a senior official like this one,”Yu said. “The Chinese Communist party, being a big ruling party, always pays attention to this issue and is paying more and more attention to it. Of course, we need to do a lot more work on this issue.”
