The fight against corruption has been going on around the world for many years. In some countries, the state is taking tough measures, while in others they turn a blind eye to this problem. China, despite the high level of development of the country, also boasts a fairly developed level of corruption. This problem is deeply rooted in history.
Chinese officials have taken bribes for a long time, offering in return the opportunity to climb the career ladder or otherwise improve the standard of living. But until the revolution, this problem was not particularly fought, because the officials enjoyed special respect. The grandiose coup and the creation of the People's Republic of China led to famine and devastation throughout the country. In order to quickly raise the country's economy to a high level, Deng Xiaoping introduced a tax system in the 80s of the twentieth century. The officials who occupied high-ranking positions in the regions received not only power, but also money. They disposed of them at their own discretion, and not always for the good of the country. At this time, corruption literally swept the entire country. During this period, the government turned a blind eye to everything, only one thing was required of them - to strengthen the economy. Nobody really fought bribery. All actions were demonstrative, aimed not at solving
problem, but to calm the people down. An unwanted person was punished; the bribe-takers continued to grow rich, and the Chinese people became impoverished.
In the early nineties, the Chinese population rebelled. However, the authorities brutally suppressed all riots and introduced censorship even on the mention of rallies. There was also an agreement that the people turn a blind eye to corruption, and the government raises salaries in return. Thanks to this, there was a lull in China, and only in 2005, with the spread of the Internet, did people learn about what is happening in the Celestial Empire.
MYTH
As in the case of Western countries, in the case of China, the "fight against corruption" is exactly the same myth that will not be exposed for long.
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Very often, those who like to cite the Chinese practice of fighting corruption as an example are forced to make the reservation that, despite the severity of this struggle and the regular public executions of the perpetrators, this does not stop greedy officials, who are still willing to take risks for the sake of getting rich quick. Such is, they say, human nature, especially in "backward Asian countries" - such critics point out philosophically - after all, in order to truly defeat corruption and improve the imperfect human nature, "genuine freedom" and a legal system like in the West are needed.
The simple idea is that if harsh repression does not help intimidate officials in China (although they perfectly solved this problem, for example, in Stalin's times in the Soviet Union), then, in fact, they are only an imitation of the fight against corruption - in the heads of such commentators why something doesn't come.
High-profile corruption cases, numerous arrests of party officials who "violated discipline", as well as executions and life sentences that overtake even high-ranking government officials, may give the impression that this problem does not exist in China and is nipped at the root.
In particular in Russia, many even call for adopting the "effective Chinese experience in solving the issue of corruption." However, whether the ruling regime in the PRC has experience in solving this problem is a big question.
An active "fight against corruption" in China has been going on for at least three decades, but during this time corruption in the country has not only not been eradicated or at least decreased, but on the contrary has become even greater. The party state officials themselves openly admit that this pernicious phenomenon of the moral degradation of civil servants is the main threat to the stability of the party's government and the country's development.
As early as May 29, 2012, the official Chinese media reported that according to the party congress held in Shandong, between July 2007 and April 2012, 51,508 cases of corruption were opened in Shandong province. Of these, 10,774 are major corruption scandals, resulting in the arrest of 78 provincial government officials and 734 county government officials.
Huang Sheng, a former deputy governor, nicknamed "Huang 300 million", is named one of the most "prominent" corrupt officials in this province. The official collected bribes and misappropriated government funds totaling $ 9 billion. He kept 46 mistresses and had 46 apartments, one for each of them. Moreover, his entire family emigrated abroad.
The authorities themselves, though not directly, have already admitted that they are not able to solve this problem.
The party publication Global Times published an article stating that the conditions in China are insufficient to address the problem of corruption, which in turn threatens the development of Chinese society.
Among the main reasons for this situation in the country, the publication named "too low official salaries of officials" and stated that if these salaries are increased, "public opinion will not accept this."
In the end, the publication called on the people to get into the position of officials and "understand their situation."
Earlier on March 26, 2012, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao bluntly stated at a State Council meeting that the greatest danger for the ruling party is corruption and that if this problem is not addressed, the nature of political power in the country may change. The Global Times did not name the real reasons for the growing corruption in the country.
Where did systemic corruption come from in China?
In fact, in the Celestial Empire there is an experience of both corruption itself and the fight against it. Officials made good money on the construction of the Great Wall of China, and on internecine wars, and on military contracts, and on caravans going along the Great Silk Road. Everything is like everyone else. And historians know a lot of relevant documents in the archives. However, the real corruption came to China along with the Europeans, who not only did not fight it, but, on the contrary, in every possible way instilled and encouraged it.
In the middle of the 19th century, the Qing empire, horrified by the monstrous harm that came with the British, who launched a grandiose trade in opium in China and "addicted" the majority of the population to the drug, organized colossal flows of smuggling of this substance into the country, began to tighten measures restricting the activities of foreigners and protecting the country from their pernicious influence.
In response, the British in 1840 declared war on the Chinese Empire, which was called the "First Opium". After the defeat, China was forced to sign the enslaving Nanjing and Humen treaties, in which, in addition to huge indemnity, the concession of Hong Kong and compensation for the destroyed smuggled opium, the British rights to conduct almost unlimited trade activities in China were secured. In fact, these agreements legalized corruption mechanisms built by British smugglers. But the colonialists did not stop there either, and after 13 years they unleashed the Second Opium War, in which they achieved even greater preferences in the opium trade and the right to use the Chinese population as a slave force in their colonies. Naturally,at the same time, total corruption among Chinese officials was strongly encouraged and implanted, and the weak imperial power, after two crushing military defeats, did not dare to resist these processes. The image of a traitorous official who helps foreigners to plunder China and together with them profits from the exploitation of the people is deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Such characters can be found both in the pages of Chinese literature dedicated to this dramatic period, and in works of mass culture, including in numerous films about martial arts.firmly rooted in Chinese culture. Such characters can be found both in the pages of Chinese literature dedicated to this dramatic period, and in works of mass culture, including in numerous films about martial arts.firmly rooted in Chinese culture. Such characters can be found both in the pages of Chinese literature dedicated to this dramatic period, and in works of mass culture, including in numerous films about martial arts.
From that moment on, Western-style corruption took root in China, and corruption collaboration of bureaucrats became one of the most significant social problems, which ultimately led to the fall of the Manchu dynasty, then to Japanese intervention and permanent civil war. But even after China, not without the help of the Soviet Union, begins to restore its relative sovereignty, Western countries are trying by all means to preserve their influence in China, including through the built-up corruption mechanisms. It is possible to eradicate such corruption only after the final victory in the struggle for power by the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, Mao Zedong. Only the implementation of a radical socialist model with special emphasis on freezing any foreign economic relations and minimizing commodity-money relations and the use of extremely brutal methods of the Cultural Revolution for this helped to "re-educate" the Chinese bureaucracy corrupted by corruption.
Charles Cousin-Montabant leads French troops into battle against the Chinese. Engraving 1850. (Opium Wars).
Nepotism in China
Nevertheless, in addition to systemic Western corruption, China has always had its own traditions of enrichment at the expense of the state treasury and selfish use of official position.
The main feature of the Chinese mentality is the special role of family ties; loyalty to one's family for a Chinese person prevails over all other loyalties. The whole life of Chinese society is based on the family, including the traditional religions Confucianism and Taoism, which are oriented towards the family. In Confucian dogmas, "respect for parents" is even higher than loyalty to the state and the law. This is the foundation on which, according to the philosopher of antiquity, a law-abiding citizen can generally grow. If you honor your parents, you will be able to honor the Emperor and Heaven, if you do not honor your parents, if you honor the Emperor and Heaven, you will most likely pretend or you will be unstable.
The career growth of almost any successful person in China is perceived as, first of all, the result of the activities of his entire family and only secondarily as his personal merit. The family works for his career, pays for education and exams, supports him while studying in the city and provides all the necessary needs. For a poor provincial family, this is an extremely high cost, which is perceived as an investment in the future of the whole family, and the success in the career of this offspring is considered to be the success of the whole family. In turn, he is expected to work for the benefit of the whole family and help every relative. At one time, China even had a system of "reverse nobility". The nobility was received not by the descendant of a man who had served, by inheritance, but, on the contrary, by the parents and grandfathers of a successful official.
For a Chinese person, refusing to help his family is one of the most shameful acts that not only leads to a break with relatives, but will certainly cause condemnation from his entourage and can have an extremely negative impact on his career. He becomes an outcast in society, and the family will try to give his shame as much publicity as possible. However, such a betrayal is unlikely for a Chinese simply because of his mentality and upbringing.
It is clear that a Chinese official who has made a career will always help his family in every way, including using all the resources of his position.
It is completely normal in society if an official gives preferences to his relative in commerce, uses his administrative resources in his favor, and hires relatives. Nepotism and nepotism in themselves are not condemned, but, on the contrary, are perceived as correct behavior.
Giving thanks for services, giving part of the profit to the person, thanks to whose efforts a profitable deal was made, is also part of the Chinese business culture and, if it does not go beyond a reasonable framework, is not condemned in society.
Oleg Anatolyevich Matveychev is a Russian philosopher, political scientist and political consultant, political adviser, media expert, professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow. Recognized as the best teacher of the Faculty of Philosophy in 2012.
And such a business culture permeates Chinese society to the very top. If at the grassroots level, nepotism is of a family nature, then at the top of the political system are huge clans of officials. Actually, Xi Jinping, the current leader of China, is the son of Mao Zedong's ally Xi Zhongxun, that is, in our words, a major boy. But this does not meet with any condemnation and is considered absolutely normal.
Corruption in the Chinese leadership
There is a whole caste of top government officials, the so-called "princes" - mostly children and grandchildren of Mao Zedong's associates, who, together with the Great Helmsman, built the modern People's Republic of China and formed the new Chinese elite. Behind such a "prince" is its own elite group, a clan with its own political and business interests, a set of tools of influence and the total administrative resource of the positions held by its representatives.
In turn, these clans are united into more global elite corporations. Traditionally, there were two of these, the so-called "Komsomol members", the heirs of the old Beijing party elite, and the "Shanghai clique", which included mainly people from the Chinese elite of the 90s. Recently, experts have begun to single out a third independent elite corporation, the so-called "military", into which the Xi Jinping clan, which previously belonged to the "Shanghai" ones, is gradually turning into, but has departed from them and rapidly increased the power of its clan to a level comparable to the two corporations. …
The clans have divided among themselves all spheres of influence in China, they control business, including shadow and even such absolutely illegal as smuggling. A complex and intricate political and economic system, a combination of market and socialist structures, specific relations with Hong Kong, Taiwan's special status and many other characteristic features of the Chinese economy create a huge shadow market controlled by clans. And this is not to mention the rapidly growing economy, oriented both to export and to a huge domestic market, the latest developments, the modernization of the armed forces, its own space program, which create unprecedented cash flows and opportunities for the personal enrichment of officials. Clan representatives live in luxury, they do not hide their yachts, private planes,palaces and this situation does not bother anyone.
An article was published in the Internet version of Forbes magazine, which describes the customs of the modern Chinese elite:
The appearance of the Chinese in this row is natural: despite the fact that in the PRC sometimes someone is shot there for corruption, despite the specific ideology and political system, the behavior and consumption habits of the Chinese elite are no longer distinguishable from the behavior and customs of the elites of ordinary large third world countries, which, of course, includes Russia.
As a country still not rich, even in comparison with the Russian Federation, China already in 2009 became the world's second largest market for luxury goods. Sales of luxury apparel, watches, cars and jewelry in 2009 grew by 12% to $ 9.6 billion. The Chinese luxury goods market is expected to overtake the US and become the largest in the near future, approaching $ 15 billion.
China is the second largest market for Lamborghini, whose sales here tripled in the first half of 2010. Bentley, which came to China only in 2002, is already creating a network of more than 20 dealerships here, not only in the richest coastal cities, but also in the interior of the country. China for Bentley is the third largest market in the world.
Of course, the passion for luxury in its extreme forms is inevitable with the unprecedented rapid formation of the entrepreneurial class. China has already become the second largest billionaire in the world.
How does it look in practice, in "dry numbers"? According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the leading scientific institution of the Communist Party, from the mid-nineties to the present day, from 16 to 18 thousand party functionaries, as well as officials of the security, justice, state enterprises and Chinese departments located abroad. In total, they exported about 800 billion yuan from the country - $ 127 billion. In 2010, during the regular spring parliamentary session, member of the National People's Congress and professor at the Central Party School Lin Zhe said that between 1995 and 2005, 1.18 million children and spouses of Chinese officials settled abroad on a permanent basis. “This figure suggeststhat in each province of China, on average, there are about 40,000 "naked officials," he explained. The term “naked officials” in the PRC is used to refer to civil servants whose families and personal wealth are abroad. According to an internal document prepared for the leadership of the Communist Party, the state of affairs in March 2012, that is, by the time the "fifth generation of leaders" came to power, led by Xi Jinping, looked like this:that is, by the time the "fifth generation of leaders" came to power, headed by Xi Jinping, it looked like this:that is, by the time the "fifth generation of leaders" came to power, headed by Xi Jinping, it looked like this:
- 187 out of 204 members of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the 17th CPC Central Committee have close relatives who have a residence permit or citizenship of the United States and European countries, which is 91 percent;
- 142 of the 167 members who joined the Politburo after the 17th Congress (85 percent), and 113 of the 127 members of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (89 percent) have direct relatives living abroad.
It is noteworthy that when in 2012 the party leadership proposed to introduce in the country a system of disclosing information about the personal status of officials and monitoring the objectivity of these data, 98.7 percent - almost all … - of the delegates to the National People's Congress voted against this decision. These were the “initial data” when Chairman Xi took over as head of China. On the other hand, it encourages signals from the population about corrupt officials. So, on October 15 last year, the Xinhua news agency reported that from October 2007 to June 2012, the supervisory and disciplinary authorities across the country received more than 6 million 606 thousand complaints about corruption of officials. On which more than 643 thousand cases were initiated, of which 639 thousand were completed and more than 668 thousand party officials were punished.
The famous "Panama scandal" over offshore companies showed that a huge number of the most senior officials in China, took money offshore, Among the high-ranking owners of offshore companies are: Jasmine Li - the granddaughter of Chinese leader Jia Qinglin; the sons-in-law of President Xi Jinping and Zhang Gaoli, another member of China's main political body, the Politburo Standing Committee; daughter of Li Peng, responsible for the brutal suppression of the Tiananmen Square protest; Gu Kailai, wife of Bo Xilai, a former Politburo member; brother of former Vice President Zeng Qinghong and son of former Politburo member Tian Jiyun and others.
Author: aleksak
