China's fight against corruption has scored a sweeping victory and is setting sight on a complete win.
Central authorities have made it clear that they will not waver in their resolve to bring the corrupt to justice.
This message was reinforced by the work reports of the top court and the top procuratorate, delivered Tuesday to the national legislature for review.
In 2018, courts around the country concluded 28,000 graft cases involving 33,000 people, including 18 former officials at the provincial-level and above. In the year, 32 former senior officials at such levels were prosecuted.
Over the years, the anti-corruption drive led by the Communist Party of China (CPC) has achieved remarkable progress.
Both high and low ranking officials are targeted. More than 500 senior officials at or above provincial level have been investigated since the 18th CPC National Congress in late 2012.
Thousands of graft suspects who had fled abroad were repatriated. Since 2014, Operation "Sky Net" has netted about 5,000 fugitives, recovering more than 13 billion yuan (1.94 billion U.S. dollars) in stolen assets.
As the "tigers" are taken out, "flies" swatted and "foxes" hunted down, the political ecosystem has changed for the better.
The anti-corruption campaign now places more attention on prevention. More checks and balances have been put in place. Rules are being strictly enforced, and supervision has been enhanced through regular inspections.
Increasingly, officials don't dare to, are unable to and have no desire to be corrupt.
With a decrease in both new and unsolved old cases, the anti-corruption campaign has entered a new stage.
The year 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic of China and is key in the final push for the building of a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020.
A great cause calls for the leadership from a strong Party. And a strong Party must and will win a complete victory against corruption.
