Chapter 27 4. Corruption: Observation from an International Perspective

Corruption in China has aroused widespread resentment and concern among Chinese people.We must have a clear understanding of the problem of corruption. If this problem is not solved properly, it will cause various social problems, lead to the interruption of the modernization drive, and even retrogression.But we also need to have an overall grasp of this issue: From the perspective of the whole world, what is the status of China's corruption situation in the world?What is the nature of corruption in China?Can China basically solve the problem of corruption?How to deal with it? Transparency International, the world's most authoritative organization on corruption research, ranks China's corruption status at around 70 to 80 among more than 180 countries, that is, it is in the middle position:

(Source: Transparency International website) This kind of status is not glorious, and it certainly cannot make the people of the country proud, but it is indeed not a situation where the sky is about to fall and the country will not be the country.The Chinese should do better.I have been to all the countries and regions listed in the table, and this arrangement is quite close to the results of my own field observations.I took what I thought was a rather unique perspective, and I observed the taxi management of a place.In Ukraine and Russia, countries that have tried Western-style democratization, taxis are basically controlled by the underworld. You can judge that the level of corruption in these countries must be terrible.Usually, as soon as you leave the airport, several big men will surround you and ask you to take his car, charging you a price that is twice as high as you expected. If you go to the taxi management office at the airport, the people there will tell you that it is this price.You are right.You can only find a driver who looks kinder. Either there is no meter in the car, or there is no need for it.It's actually not bad, basically no black car robbery problem, and gets you safely to the hotel for a little extra money.

Africa can no longer guarantee even that.Most of the cars are tattered, and the taxis of various signs do not have taximeters.The crime rate in Africa is too high, and black car robberies happen frequently.This situation shows that the government and the police lack basic governance capabilities, and corruption has paralyzed the basic functions of the government and the market.In this kind of place, you usually find a car through acquaintances first, or find one or two companies with a good reputation. This is generally only in cities with a relatively high degree of development, such as large cities in countries such as South Africa and Kenya.

When you go to a country like India, taxis in New Delhi have meters, but they are rarely used. The driver will quote you a price casually. If you want him to use the meter, he will say, then you have to add air-conditioning fees, Baggage fees and more.This is quite similar to the political reality in India, where there is a big gap between the nominal legal system and the actual implementation.This also somewhat reflects the absence of market norms, weak government management, and the proliferation of rent-seeking behaviors.To put it bluntly, taking a taxi in Shanghai after returning from these countries is a luxury you know.If the corruption situation in the world can be divided into three levels: low, medium and high, I think the corruption in China is roughly in the middle level.

What is the concept of high corruption?This is a kind of paralyzing corruption. Without money to open the way, nothing can be done.This is particularly prominent in some African countries: Do you need a birth certificate?Bring money.Do you have an ID card?Bring money.Do you need a passport?Bring money.Do you want to see the minister?Bring money.do you want to see the presidentBring money.The traffic police are also easy to settle. Any overload can be settled as soon as the money is stuffed.Do you want a driver's license?The driving school knocks you off first, the driving instructor also knocks you off, the examiner knocks you off again, and finally when you go to pick up your license, the government licensing department knocks you off again.For the second-hand clothes donated by Western non-governmental organizations, the wives of the officials in charge first select and take away the good ones, and then sell them in second-hand shops opened by relatives.I went to a pharmacy in Swaziland, and I asked if there was any aspirin?The clerk said he took it away from the store manager, but he actually sold it.

Let me still take Africa's "high corruption" as an example to talk about the differences with China's corruption. There are probably a few differences: One is that China is in the process of rapid economic development, and in the process of its own industrial revolution, corruption is increasing.In African countries with high levels of corruption, the economy has stagnated or even regressed. There is no industrial revolution at all, but corruption has continued unabated.My preliminary conclusion is: China’s corruption belongs to the corruption that occurs when the old and new systems are exchanged, because the exchange of the old and new systems has many loopholes, which provide opportunities for people to take advantage of. However, with the progress of system transformation and innovation, this type of corruption may occur. decline.

The second is the so-called "resource curse".In China, when people hear that new resources have been discovered, everyone is happy, which shows that we have confidence in the country's resource management, and resources belong to the people of the whole country.But in private conversations with many African friends, he often tells you that it is better to have no resources, because without resources, we have to improve the quality of people, improve efficiency and competitiveness.In the world, lack of resources is not necessarily a bad thing for a country; countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Switzerland are not rich in resources.Insufficient resources often make a country pay more attention to the development of human resources and the construction of a soft environment.

On the contrary, some resource-rich countries do not do well economically.A typical example is Nigeria, which originally had agriculture, but after the discovery of oil, agriculture was abandoned.Oil has been developed for decades, but people's lives are deteriorating. Money has been embezzled and stored in foreign banks. Domestic gasoline still needs to be imported.In recent years, international oil prices have risen several times, but in Nigeria, everyone I met told me that the living standard now is not as good as it was 20 years ago.Compared with Beijing, the level of development of Lagos is more than 20 years behind.

I once read an article commenting on the African newspaper "East Africa", mentioning the new discovery of oil in Angola. The title of the article was: "As if gold weren't bad enough, now they found oil" t bad enough, now they have found oil).With resources, the government has income, and can do whatever it wants without the checks and balances of the system, the supervision of the people, the collection of taxes, and of course the supervision of taxpayers. Third, corrupt officials in China are generally afraid to show off publicly. The money is buried underground, hidden on the ceiling, or transferred abroad through children, relatives and friends. Although this is very bad, many corrupt officials in African countries dare to show off publicly.Once I was in a certain country in Africa, and the taxi driver said to me: "Look, this villa belongs to the Minister of the Interior, and the two houses over there are also his. He is in charge of granting land, so he gets a lot of kickbacks." I asked him: "Why do you Don't bring him to justice?" He said: "I don't care about that. If I were him, I would do the same." He also said: "Our president has two wives, one old and fierce, one Young and beautiful." I asked him, "Isn't it illegal to do that?" He replied, "If I were president, I'd have four."

To be fair, the political culture of many countries is more tolerant of corruption and lawlessness than China, even India, Russia, and Ukraine.From this point of view, there is hope in China's governance of corruption, because our people hate corruption. I hope our people and the media will keep their eyes open so that corrupt officials have nowhere to hide. Tolerance of corruption in African countries is linked to tribalism in Africa.After many leaders are elected, they only use people from their own tribes.Tribalism is deeply rooted in Africa.Most countries have not really formed the concept of a nation-state.I once saw such a situation in Kenya: a member of parliament was accused of corruption by the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the Anti-Corruption Commission sent the police to arrest him, but he has returned to his hometown, and the local residents have been mobilized. Protect him on three levels.The police failed to catch him, so they could only retreat. Then he immediately held a press conference, accusing the government of persecuting him and his tribe. As a result, the people of his tribe became agitated and shouted various slogans excitedly.Regardless of the truth of the matter, but you can feel that third world politicians always have a way to play with the people in the palm of their hands.