‘Rule by Media’ – The Role of Media in the Present Development of Rule of Law in Anti-Corruption Cases in Transitional China

Abstract

‘Rule by media’ is a translation of the Chinese words ‘ or meizhi’. Although commentators have given different meanings to the expression, in this paper the term means that the media is capable of helping to resolve certain social issues effectively through public exposure. China is in a transitional period of rule of law, which is marked by the unique ‘Chinese characteristics’. Anti-corruption is an important part of rule of law. The Chinese media, which is mainly controlled by the state, has played a very important role in cracking down on corruption in recent years. Can a state-controlled media play an effective role in anti-corruption cases? Can the present Chinese Government and Chinese Communist Part succeed in its pursuit to rule of law through controlled exposure of corruption, while maintaining its present political system? These are the issues to be examined in the paper. The author is of a view that the Chinese Communist Party appears to follow the Confucian philosophy of self-restraint and self-purfication, which claims that a person shall improve himself by cultivating his internal body and spirit as well as nourishing his moral characteristics, in its effort to move to rule of law with ‘Chinese characteristics’. It is yet too early to say whether the rule of law with Chinese characteristics may lead to the creation of a workable political system different from the Western model of rule of law. Cracking down on corruption in any case is always a positive step for China to move to a society based on the rule of law.