Against the background of the long-term governance of the CPC, political speculators have become a special class. They erode the Party like parasites, weaving a poisonous web to trap the Party and swallowing up its vitality.

During the time of the revolution, traitors can be purged relatively easily. But since the founding of the PRC, we haven't established an effective mechanism to discard political parasites, which has provided them with chances to exploit the Party.

This class has long been neglected by the public. Political speculators sneak into the Party, seeking advantage meanly and obstructing the flesh-and-blood ties between the Party and the public.

They embezzle the funds used for improving public welfare, undermining the Party's public credibility.

Sticking to pragmatism, political parasites exploit every opportunity for their own advantage. They weigh the pros and cons when developing the relationship with others, throwing away like garbage those who have little benefit to offer them.

They well know the Party's lines, principles and policies, and any loopholes in these policies will be used by them to seek personal gains.

China is exploring its way in reform. This offers the political parasites opportunities to speculate. Out of fear of being exposed and punished, they pretend to be supporters of reform, but whether they will work hard depends on how many personal gains they could make. They will rush to the fore only when there are chances for their own advantage, otherwise, they will stay idle in work.

Political speculators are adverse to the healthy and vigorous development of the Party. They give lip service to serving the people, but are incompetent to fulfill the promise.

Sometimes they also point their fingers at corruption, but it's only because they are unsatisfied with the division of their gains or covet for greater benefits.

For those political speculators, their work is not to solve difficulties for the Party and the people. They sell their soul for benefits.

One of the reasons for the disintegration of the Soviet Union is that a considerable number of political parasites had encroached on the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Drawing a lesson from this, the CPC should firmly and effectively crack down on those political speculators. Only by punching them with an iron fist can political speculators be rooted out from the Party.

The author is a professor with the School of Marxism, Tsinghua University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn