Corruption China

Corruption permeates every level of Chinese society and is one of the greatest problems facing China today. This assessment does not come simply from foreign critics, but from China’s current president Xi Jinping and former president Hu Jintao, both of whom publicly declared when they took power that cracking down on corruption was amajor goal of their presidencies. Hu obviously failed, while Xi’s efforts remain to be seen.

   Scandals in China run the gamut from merely distasteful to completely lethal. Numerous officials have been caught in sex scandals. In one notorious case, a Chinese Communist Party member kept two twin-sister mistresses in apartments paid for with government money; in another, provincial officials naively posted photos online of themselves embarking on an orgy. Real estate scandals are also widespread including the cases of so-called Sister House, in which a bank vice president used fake IDs to purchase forty-one homes in Beijing. Scandals involving cars are also not unfamiliar, as illustrated by the case of the son of a high-government official who crashed his Ferrari in Beijing in 2012, killing himself and one passenger (the daughter of a Tibetan government official) and injuring another female passenger. The driver was not identified in the official press, and all mention of the crash was soon deleted by government censors from the web. However, private netizens kept the story alive online, and foreign journalists were able to track down the sole survivor
as well as college friends of the driver to confirm details of the accident, which is widely believed to have derailed the official’s expected promotion to the highest levels of government.

   When safety regulations are flaunted, corruption actually can sicken or even kill. For example, bribing food inspectors has led to recycled cooking oil being used from one restaurant to the next (a practice known as using “gutter oil”), massive food poisoning incidents, ordinary meat mislabeled as organic being sold in major chain stores, and the overuse of antibiotics in some chickens that found their way into the KFC franchise’s supply chain. Furthermore, use of substandard building materials
is blamed in deaths across the country, where buildings and structures have collapsed, from bridges to highway overpasses to schools. In the case of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, elementary schools for migrant workers’ children were not built up to code to withstand an earthquake and came tumbling down, resulting in more than five thousand children’s deaths.

   It’s hard to say if Chinese society is becoming more corrupt than ever before, or if the Chinese people are simply more aware of the corruption because of social media and cell phone cameras that have allowed ordinary citizens to report bad behavior. The government often tries to hush up coverage of corruption in the media, preferring to handle its own opaque investigations. Ordinary citizen bloggers, sometimes using pseudonyms, have taken to posting examples of official misdeeds from sex scandals to construction problems to land grabs to cover-ups over crimes ranging from rape to murder. While censors often take the posts down within hours, many of these bloggers have gained hundreds of thousands of followers online and a celebrity status that, for the time being, protects them from official harassment.

   Perhaps the people most hurt by corruption are China’s rural residents and unemployed, older workers. Both groups have largely been unable to benefit from the economic reforms that have fueled growth and wealth in China’s coastal cities. Laid-off workers are often promised pensions or some form of compensation but then after a few payments, they are given nothing. As a result, many unemployed workers, especially those cut from the rolls of the cumbersome state-run enterprises that are being phased out of the new, faster-paced Chinese economy, are banding together to protest their disenfranchisement. It is not uncommon in some of the poorer inland cities to see workers bearing placards with their grievances spelled out in large Chinese characters.

  Farmers face a different problem. Often they find that their land is being confiscated by corrupt local officials who cut deals with factories or other profit-making ventures to build upon the cheap real estate cheap because the farmers aren’t adequately paid for their land. As a result, rural poverty continues to grow. Furthermore, the farther one lives from the central government in Beijing, the easier it is for corrupt local officials and businesspeople to exploit farmers, as they have no way to
make their grievances heard. Heroic Chinese reporters and lawyers, often self-trained, have tried to bring the plight of farmers to the public’s attention and force the government to help. However, local corruption is such that lawyers are often arrested and beaten by police, who are paid off by the officials or companies, and reporters can be censured or fired for covering stories
that are not first approved by the Communist Party, which still controls the media. However, Chinese journalists have grown increasingly bold in challenging what they see as a blight on their society and in demanding more freedoms for the media.

   Most foreign tourists will not have to deal with large-scale corruption. Because the tourism industry is seen as essential to China’s growing economy and as its “face” in the international arena, it is highly competitive and watched over by the central government. The smaller-level corruption one typically encounters may involve detours on your tour bus to businesses, restaurants, and trinket stands where suddenly your guide announces, “It’s time to take a rest.” The idea is that everyone is
forced off the bus and will make purchases and/or eat. The tour companies or guides then get a cut from the business owners.

   When planning a tour, be wary of smaller, lesser-known companies. If anyone is offering incredibly low prices, special access to ancient treasures, an itinerary that covers vast amounts of territory in very little time, or the like, be skeptical. Ask for references from satisfied tourists. Check the Internet and travel magazines for complaints. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

   Businesspeople will have to be vigilant at every step of the process of building their company base and brand in China, from quality control to ever-shifting contracts. Even government support does not guarantee escape from corruption. Businesspeople from countries where bribery is illegal face a particular disadvantage, as the practice is rampant in China, and many nations have no problem with how their businesspeople operate. However, it’s almost impossible (not to mention illegal)
for Americans to compete in the bribery arena. For example, Taiwanese are well-known for offering special “gifts” to local officials to help their businesses along. Such gifts can include diamond-encrusted watches, expensive luxury goods, and even out-and-out cash payments.

   Alas, everyone suffers. The best you can hope to do is know who’s in charge of your venture, tour, study abroad program, English-teaching program, or whatever you’re involved with. When something goes awry or you feel you are being squeezed, try to reach the most senior official or person in charge of your program. That person will be most able to stop lower-level
people from harassing you or your company. It’s also good to make as many Chinese friends as possible, as they have had to deal with corruption their whole lives and have many coping strategies and networks of friends you can tap into.