BEIJING: Premier Wen Jiabao warned Monday the biggest danger facing China's Communist Party was corruption, as it struggles to contain the biggest political scandal to hit the country in years.
In a speech published in the top Communist Party periodical "Qiushi," Wen pledged to use his last year in power to attack rampant corruption in the ruling party and curb the unbridled powers of top leaders.
Wen's comments come after charismatic leader Bo Xilai was sacked as head of Chongqing city and dismissed from the powerful Politburo while his wife was named a suspect in the alleged murder of British businessman Neil Heywood.
The revelations, most announced last week, have shocked the nation and are seen as the biggest political scandal to strike China in years.
"We must deeply recognise that the biggest danger facing the ruling party is corruption," Wen said in the speech that was read at an anti-graft cabinet meeting on March 26 but only published Monday.
"If this problem is not resolved well, then the nature of political power can change and 'those who hold political power may perish'."
The speech played prominently in China's tightly-controlled media and mirrored numerous editorials that have urged the public to rally behind the party following the news of Bo's suspension from the Politburo and the investigation into his wife Gu Kailai for murder.
Xinhua news agency said last week Gu had been on good terms with Heywood, but fell out over economic interests, leading to the alleged November 15 murder.
The ruling party -- apparently nervous that the repercussions of the case will shatter its carefully crafted appearance of unity -- has tried to put a positive spin on the scandal.
"Recently, the central government decided to start an investigation into serious disciplinary violations by Comrade Bo Xilai," the Chongqing Daily said in a Monday commentary.
"This is a great fortune for the party, for the country and for Chongqing, and deeply suits the party's wishes and the people's wishes."
Meanwhile, in an effort to quell widespread rumours circulating about the case, authorities have shut down dozens of websites, deleted hundreds of thousands of microblog posts and even detained people for spreading false information.
But China's weibos -- hugely popular microblogs similar to Twitter -- have still buzzed with speculation about a scandal worthy of a Hollywood thriller.
Until his dismissal as Chongqing head in mid-March, Bo -- a charismatic politician and a rising star of the party -- had been touted to access the highest echelons of power later this year.
The scandal burst into the open in February when Bo's right-hand man Wang Lijun fled in apparent panic to a US consulate, reportedly demanded asylum and handed over large amounts of information about his former boss.
The murder case has reportedly led to a detailed investigation into Bo and his family, including their financial dealings.
"The numbers of leaders and officials involved in graft remain prominent, the cases are big, sometimes they are linked to nests of corruption, the sums involved are huge and their influence (on society) is vile," Wen said in his speech.
"One important reasons why these problems are not fundamentally and effectively resolved is because of the over-concentration of powers of some departments and a lack of effective supervision and restraint."
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