China's top legal experts vowed there would be no let-up...

China's top legal experts vowed there would be no let-up in the war on graft, warning that even ranking officials should not consider themselves above the law. "We will concentrate our efforts to fight against major cases of embezzlement or bribery committed by state employees," Chief Prosecutor Jia Chunwang told 3,000 lawmakers gathered in Beijing. The legislators, assembled for the annual National People's Congress, heard that six former officials at ministerial level had been sentenced on corruption charges in 2003. Jia also said China would continue its "Strike Hard" campaign against crime, which is believed already to have led to thousands of executions, according to various estimates. "We will adhere to the 'Strike Hard' line," he said. "We will severely hit serious criminal activities that harm national security, public security or the socialist market economic order."