Anti-corruption in 20th Century China: Campaigns, Judicial Reform, and Commercial Regulation

Abstract

In the 20th century, Chinese leaders in the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) considered systemic corruption to be a serious threat to their respective state-building projects. To address this problem, both the ROC and PRC leaders conducted anti-corruption campaigns that not only led to disciplinary measures, but also criminal charges against accused officials. At the same time, the campaigns spurred the development of new regulations to combat corruption, the establishment of new oversight institutions, and the empowerment of the judiciary. Because of the state’s increased involvement in the modern nation’s economic development, some of these campaigns were implemented as an integral part of the government’s economic policies. Indeed, the regulation of commerce sometimes necessitated the state’s oversight of officials suspected in the “mismanagement” of government-owned corporations. As a result of these anti-corruption campaigns, the judicial system and the supervisory agencies did succeed, to some extent, to provide a form of “check and balances” over the conduct of Chinese officials in the 20th Century. This dissertation, however, does not make the claim that the Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party embraced Montesquieu’s vision of state governance. In the 20th Century, the prerogatives of party-state precluded any attempts to foster judicial independence in China. Nonetheless, even in a system of rule that is predicated on the supremacy of party leadership, the courts and other supervisory bodies could still exert a degree of influence in the government. It is arguable that, with the help of the campaigns, they could still serve important functions in overseeing official behavior in modern China.