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China steps up the fight to combat its `social evils'

China's government is pledging to intensify the fight against what it considers social evils -- street crime and terrorism, Falun Gong and the corrupt officials that are undermining leaders' claims of putting people first.

The country's top judge and top prosecutor, in reports before the National People's Congress session running through Sunday, acknowledged the many problems that face their changing society, but insisted the government has matters in hand.

Chief prosecutor Jia Chunwang told legislators that in the past year China has "resolutely attacked ethnic separatists, religious extremists, violent terrorists, and Falun Gong and other types of criminal organized movements."

The Falun Gong spiritual movement was banned by the government in 1999 as an "evil cult."

Supreme Court Chief Justice Xiao Yang said bribe-taking and other corruption persists within China's courts, seriously hurting the legal system's reputation, and that officials will "spare no efforts to solve the problem."

Chinese leaders fear growing anger over official corruption might trigger unrest and threaten their grip on power.

"We are paying more and more attention to controlling it," said Yu Baofa, a congressional delegate from Shandong Province. "The government is even willing to deal with high-level leaders.... It will put the person in jail."

Xiao said six ministerial-level officials had been sentenced last year for "job-related crimes," including a judge, a former governor from southwestern China and a top banking official. A total of 22,986 cases of "job-related abuse" by government officials were heard by China's courts last year, Xiao said.

Jia said prosecutors investigated 18,515 major corruption crimes involving 2,728 officials last year.

In some cases, prosecutors failed to deal with local corruption cases quickly or well enough, Jia said, promising to do more in the coming year. He vowed to "earnestly seek a solution."
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