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Lawyers Battle 'Cash for Promotions'
People who bribe their superiors for promotion or illicit gains will face severe punishments, a senior prosecutor said Friday.
Zhao Dengju, deputy procurator-general of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, pledged that the nation's prosecutors will strengthen the crackdown on those offering bribes to government officials.
"Prosecutors will, in particular, focus on bribe-offering by officials to their superiors or officials in other government departments," said Zhao. "We will render severe punishments on them according to the law."
Zhao said the Supreme People's Procuratorate will oversee the investigation and prosecution of any case involving officials above county level and bribes of more than 500,000 yuan (US$60,000).
Entrepreneurs and government officials seeking promotion have emerged as the worst offenders for offering bribes.
Statistics from the Supreme People's Procuratorate indicate that from January to November this year, 482 officials from State-owned enterprises, government departments and State-owned institutions were investigated for charges of offering bribes.
A crackdown on bribe takers has always topped the agenda of China's prosecutors, but until now action against those who offer bribes has been weak. Official figures show that among all the bribery cases handled by the prosecutors, bribe-offering only accounted for 12.5 per cent.
"Bribe-offering could run rampant in China, with very serious consequences" said Zhao. "Such crime imposes a mounting challenge for prosecutors."
Topping the crackdown list are crimes of offering bribes to Party, governmental, judicial and institutional official to facilitate smuggling, counterfeiting, and tax or foreign currency fraud.
Between January and November this year, 1,199 cases of bribe-offering were handled by the prosecutors -- a considerable increase on the year-round figure of 984 last year.
"Bribe-offering has gone beyond the traditional fields of securities, manufacturing, real estate and finance to medical, cultural, educational, governmental departments and judicial branches," said Zhao. "The amount of money involved has also seen a hefty increase."
The average amount of money offered has shot up from 80,000 yuan (US$9,600) in 1998 to 160,000 yuan (US$19,300) this year, according to sources with the Supreme People's Procuratorate. (China Daily)
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