August 20, 2004
IT'LL BE A UNIPOLAR WORLD FOR QUITE AWHILE:
Corrupt officials have cost China £330m in 20 years (Jonathan Watts, August 20, 2004, The Guardian)
More than 4,000 corrupt Chinese officials have absconded overseas with at least $600m (£330m) worth of public funds in the past 20 years, according to a government report.The study by the ministry of commerce is thought to underplay the scale of the problem, but it highlights growing concerns that corruption could undermine the authority of the Communist party.
Describing China as the fourth-worst country in the world for capital flight, the report's authors said that bureaucrats illegally transferred 5 billion yuan (£330m) worth of dirty money to tens of thousands of firms registered in offshore finance centres such as the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.
The report's author, Mei Xinyu, cited the case of three officials in Henan province who fled overseas. Among them was Cheng Sanchang, a former party chief who reportedly set up a company in New Zealand through which he transferred 10m yuan (£660,000) before fleeing with his mistress.
But other figures released in the past year suggest the problem of capital flight is far worse than the commerce ministry's report suggests. In April, a Bank of China official was extradited from the US after allegedly embezzling £265m.
It has been reported that 8,000 Chinese officials fled overseas in the first six months of last year. According to the central committee of discipline inspection, 132,000 officials, including 17 ministers, were punished for corruption-related offences last year.
Admittedly, the idea of China challenging our global hegemony is even more amusing than that of the EU doing so. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 20, 2004 12:05 PM
$600 million over 20 years is peanuts. Corruption didn't hinder our rise to economic prominence, did it?
Posted by: Robert Duquette at August 20, 2004 12:13 PMRobert:
Probably true - but very few of our grifters went elsewhere. They kept their money right here.
Posted by: jim hamlen at August 20, 2004 12:16 PMRobert:
There wasn't any state to steal from until the Civil War.
Posted by: oj at August 20, 2004 12:23 PMRobert--
Considering what I have MYSELF heard about from Taiwanese factory owners (who have to pay "taxes" regularly to municipal, provincial, and national officials, not to mention using SOE suppliers from whom even more money is stolen, etc), I'll bet $600,000,000 is a tiny, tiny fraction of the actual takings.
I bet anyone who has done business in China will agree.
Posted by: Brian (MN) at August 20, 2004 12:42 PMDivide the total by 20 years and then split it 4,000 ways, and it comes to a whopping $4,125 per corrupt official annually. New Jersey politicians would be looking at these folks with abject disdain if that really is all that they've taken during that time.
Posted by: John at August 20, 2004 1:07 PMJohn--
Hell, there's more than 4,000 corrupt officials in Lo Wu station on the HK/Shenzhen border.
Posted by: Brian (MN) at August 20, 2004 1:14 PMJohn:
Well, it's still a poor country... but this is just "stole and ran to the Bahamas", not the rather larger "skimmed off the top and spent on a Mercedes."
Posted by: mike earl at August 20, 2004 1:43 PMEach Chinese is about 60 cents poorer for it, or in other words has had his annual income reduced by 3 cents.
The sky certainly must be falling over there.
Orrin, you are wrong about when graft and peculation became possible in this country. Read up on state banks, state lotteries, railroad bonds and the New York municipal government before 1860.
Posted by: Harry Eagar at August 20, 2004 2:40 PMGot a book for you, Orrin, since you appreciate good reads: China Mountain Zhang by Maureen McHugh. You'd like it. Sci-fi. Protagonist is a homosexual banana from Manhattan who, in a world in which the West has slid into mediocrity and China risen to formidable prominence and power, somehow finagles his way to China to study architecture. In that future China, Westerners don't get very far (they're mostly not allowed and are forced to study in crap schools in the US and Europe) and hmosexuality is a crime punishable by death. It's one of the most interesting works of modern fiction I have ever read.
I have always been mildly fascinated at your dismissal of the Chinese as having any potential in the future for greatness as a nation. My own experiences there (in the computer business) have left me quite impressed with their ambition, talent, and an almost feverish nationalism. It made me worry a lot about our "softness" in the US. One thing the Chinese are not, is soft.
PS:
Q: What time did the Chinaman go to the dentist?
A: 2:30
Posted by: Fu Zhen at August 20, 2004 3:45 PMMr. Zhen:
I tried that one years ago but set it down--I'll look around & see if it's here somewhere.
I think the future of the Chinese is brilliant. The future of China is non-existent. Fifty years from now when there are multiple states the real boom times will begin.
Posted by: oj at August 20, 2004 4:13 PMHarry:
Your list: "Read up on state banks, state lotteries, railroad bonds and the New York municipal government before 1860." proves my point.
Posted by: oj at August 20, 2004 4:22 PMThose figures are 1) only what a government report knows/admits to, and 2) only the money that has been squirreled away overseas. Obviously corrupt officials are also spending other money at home. I'm sure the problem is far, far larger.
Posted by: PapayaSF at August 20, 2004 4:55 PMEconomic booms are always accompanied by corruption, just look at Enron & WorldCom.
Posted by: Robert Duquette at August 20, 2004 5:23 PM--Economic booms are always accompanied by corruption, just look at Enron & WorldCom.--
I was going to add Parmalat (sp) and the EU, but that part of the world isn't exactly known for economic booms lately.
Posted by: Sandy P at August 21, 2004 2:59 AMAlright. Here's how it works. It order to be rich enough to dream of fighting the United States, you have to become the United States. Of course, by that time you won't want to fight the United States. You don't want to become the United States? Not to worry: plenty of room on the ash-heap of history.
Posted by: Lou Gots at August 21, 2004 3:25 AMLou: That's great. And true.
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