A dispatch released late the night of Oct. 7 about the fall of Su Shulin, governor of the eastern province of Fujian, was a surprise to most Chinese, who were still coming off the week-long National Day holiday.
The watchdog of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said Su was being investigated for suspected "serious disciplinary offenses," although he was spotted attending a regular inspection tour days before the announcement.
Su was the 23rd official at the provincial- or ministerial-level to be investigated or prosecuted this year. The country's anti-graft watchdog has ousted corrupt officials ranging from low-level "flies" to high-ranking "tigers."
In nearly three years since the Party started a high-profile anti-corruption campaign after Xi Jinping took the Party helm in late 2012, a total of 80 "tigers" have been punished by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The figure does not include top military leaders.
Some of them worked in state security, sports, courts, environmental protection and safety supervision -- sectors that had not previously been touched by the graft crackdown.
Top officials such as Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai and Ling Jihua are just the first of the top leaders the Party's anti-graft campaign is expected to bring down. Corrupt provincial-level leaders, such as Zhou Benshun, former Party chief of north China's Hebei Province, and Su, Fujian governor, will also continue to fall as the campaign continues.
Only Beijing, Shanghai and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region have yet to see a senior official investigated in the anti-graft campaign.
Among the remaining 28 provincial-level regions, Shanxi Province has had seven provincial officials investigated or prosecuted for corruption, the largest number of any province.
There is no safe zone for officials, even retired ones. At least 10 retired "tigers" have been investigated for corruption.
Despite the investigation and prosecution of hundreds of officials nationwide, China's commitment to purging corruption is showing no signs of letting up.
Moreover, future legislation is planned to support the campaign. Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, urged the introduction of anti-graft legislation while delivering a work report at the annual session of the top legislature in March.
In August, the top legislature amended the Criminal Law to tighten sentencing in corruption cases. The new law ruled out commutation for most corrupt officials, saying criminals convicted on serious corruption charges who have received a two-year suspended death sentence will face life imprisonment after the two years.
The move aims to protect judicial fairness and prevent corrupt criminals from serving shorter prison terms through commutation. It targets officials who illegally seek commutation, parole or non-prison sentences.
