Will China’s Anti-Corruption Campaign Go The Way Of All The Others – And Fail?

August 25, 2009

Martin McCauley writes: Graft, bribery, corruption: these ills are synonymous with any communist rule and in country.The Communist Party of China (CPC) has been launching an anti-corruption campaign every year since the advent of economic reforms in 1978. But Little has changed. Indeed the problem appears to be getting worse.

Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the CPC and President of the country, is determined to make a difference this year. It is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic. The upcoming Central Committee plenum promises to place it top of the agenda. Will it change anything?

How does one combat corruption? In many ways, it is part and parcel of Chinese life. It is known as guanxi. If one wants to get anything done one needs to grease the right palms. In a system where one requires permission to do most things, it means the bureaucrat is king.
The way to combat bribe taking is to introduce institutional checks and balances. However, this would undermine the power of the CPC. Recent legislation has increased Party supervision of judges. They have been reminded that their main function is to strengthen the rule of the party. Anyway the higher the position one occupies in the party and government, the more immune one becomes to prosecution. A key function of those in these positions is patronage. They dispense their favours for a price. The provide a ‘roof’ for the illegal activities of their clients.

Hu has underlined the need to train new, young cadres differently. This is to ensure that they do not become imbued with the bad habits of their seniors. New cadres are to resist corruption and cope with and counter risks to good governance. The CPC is aware that recent corruption cases have ‘seriously affected the party’s image’. One of the new measures mooted is to oblige party and government officials to disclose all their assets.

Every month for the last year, an official at assistant minister level of above has been named and shamed for ‘economic crimes’. Some of the high profile casualties have included the head of the multi-billion dollar Binhai Development Zone in Tianjin; the mayor of Shenzhen and the vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court. Among the ‘big tigers’ netted have been bosses of large state corporation and private firms.

A recent casualty is the general manager of the China National Nuclear Corporation which is responsible for China’s nuclear energy programme. He is even a member of the Central Committee of the CPC. He is accused of accepting bribes worth the equivalent of about $260 million. China’s richest man, or perhaps one should say used to be China’s richest man, is facing prison, confiscation of his assets and perhaps even worse.

A major problem for Beijing is the power of organised crime or the triads. They collude with top cadres, judges and businessmen. Three billionaire ‘mafiosi’, operating in Chongqing, were arrested recently. They are all very successful businessmen who are known to donate not inconsequential sums to charity. All this is slightly embarrassing for the party. Chongqing, in 1997, was upgraded to the same administrative status as Beijing and Shanghai. It has been headed by high flying party officials. The activities of the mafiosi were no secret.

For instance, one of them ran about twenty companies. Why was a blind eye turned to their activities so long?

Over the last year about a dozen top judges have been arrested and accused of accepting bribes. Even more disturbing are accusations that some senior judges have links to leading mafiosi. Top police officials in Chongqing are suspected of protecting the triads.

Last month, the son on Hu Jintao was accused by anti-corruption officials in Namibia of paying bribes to secure a contract. He has since severed all connections with the company involved. There is no evidence that he was involved or even knew of the malfeasance. Beijing instructed Chinese media and websites not to carry the story.

There may be no truth in the accusation against the leader’s son. However, the fact that it was not even discussed in the media underlines the sensitivity of the topic. Corruption is clearly an explosive issue.

– End –

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