Corruption in Chinese eyes

Corruption seems to be a universal topic of political angst. In China, there has been heavy criticism of corruption from different angles by Chinese leaders and both the Chinese and Western media. It seems to be growing like mushrooms after the spring. As the Chinese saying goes, when one corrupted person falls, thousands of others stand up.

Criticism about corruption tends to be similar across cultures. That is, those people involved in corrupt activities are severely blamed and seen as immoral abusers of power. Chinese people share this vision. They are resentful about corruption, particularly among government officials.

Many officials have been jailed and even executed for corruption in China. However, when ordinary individuals try to pursue their own interests, such as engaging in business activities, finding jobs, seeing doctors or getting services, it is almost certain they will be involved in corrupt activities in order to reach their goals. The question is: should individuals be the target in controlling corruption? Is it realistic to expect a person in power to possess moral self-control over his or her corrupt behaviour?

Visiting China in February this year, I was curious once again to try to find out how the Chinese actually see and deal with current corruption. One Chinese business acquaintance declared to me that China was a mafia state and the Chinese government the biggest mafia. In his opinion, if you are not corrupt, you are out of the game. This man has run an interior design business for over 20 years and owns factories and shops. After 20 years, he is able to live comfortably in both China and Australia.

Dealing with government officials, he explained,

I am happy to see an official to come to my shop to "buy" something. It is a golden opportunity for me. It gives me a chance to get close to him and bribe him. Nowadays, those officials are very selective about receiving bribes. I would be really worried if he or she did not accept my bribe. It means I will never be able to get any help from him. Without his help, it can be extremely difficult to pursue my business interests.

According to this man, it is the norm in China that the person in power will get more profit from a government project than any businessman involved. That is why becoming an official is the top career goal for many Chinese.

Still, a businessman has to maintain a good relationship with the official so that he may receive more business favours later on and so ensure continuing profits for his business. This kind of networking is absolutely essential for anyone who wants to pursue their own business interests.

My business acquaintance also told me confidentially of a police chief in a small city who was earning 500,000 RMB (AUD 70,000) per month. His "business" involved giving people permission to run undercover casinos and brothels. In return, these people gave him generous kickbacks for the risk he was taking. If discovered, he could be held legally responsible and lose his position.

Talking to people in China, my impression is that whenever people want to do something needing official action or permission, the first thought that comes to their mind is, "Who do I know?" and then, "How much do I need to pay?" Knowing someone makes it possible to get a foot in the door. The second step is the entry fee.

A friend of mine failed to be promoted to a much higher position ten years ago, despite appreciation of his talent by his Party boss. This occurred simply because he was not prepared to pay a one million RMB bribe to the people on the selection committee within the municipal Party organization.

The government's intervention in business, as well as its dominant role in personal development and in people's daily activities, is so pervasive that it is hard to get things done without corruption. In China, personal connections and money are the key resources to pursuing one's interests.

Somehow I recently joined this crowd. It happened because my ageing mother needed eye drops, which she used to be able to get from any pharmacy and then one day could no longer find in any. Contacting the eye drop manufacturer, I was told that, because of a change of government policy, a doctor's prescription was now required to buy them. In addition, because the government set the price too low, individual pharmacies could no longer make any profit. They therefore had to stop selling the product.

In the city of Shenyang, with its population of more than nine million people, there was only one hospital selling this drug. To get a prescription, my mother had to wait in a long queue and get a numbered ticket to see a doctor and then join another queue to wait to see the doctor. She might have to do this once a month. Thinking about the whole process left my mother shaking.

I immediately thought of a friend of my sister's whose husband was working in this hospital. He referred my mother to a doctor, from whom she could obtain six months' worth of eye drops, saving her from having to join the lengthy queues. While the personal connection saved us from bribery, the government policy has caused my mother inconvenience, discouraged pharmacies from providing the product and promoted corruption.

Confronting this reality, I became speechless in thinking about the criticism of corrupt officials in the media. I found myself as being among those Chinese who are ambivalent about corruption. They might express anger towards government officials, teachers, doctors, police and almost anyone else; but when it comes to them, they cannot escape from corrupt behaviour. The main result of corruption is that two parties are able to pursue their personal interests together.

To confront widespread corruption, the Chinese government has seemingly undertaken various efforts to minimize its scale. The new president Xi Qinping has openly proclaimed that he will do his best to control corruption. At present many officials are being removed or punished.

Punishing individuals seems to be a universal way of tackling corruption. Is this punishment of individuals though, the only remedy for corruption? As with elsewhere, government officials and politicians are expected to have high moral standards. However, the choice of government officials in China has never been based on individual morality, and in different contexts it is difficult to define exactly who is acting more morally. It appears that the scale of corruption in China is larger and deeper than in many other countries because China has a much more centralized political, economic and social system.

Although the Chinese government has loosened its grip on production activities since the so-called economic reform of 1978, the fundamental socialist mechanism established after 1949 remains the same: a one-party system with state ownership.

The disappearance of some government organizations has been followed by their replacement with institutions designed to intervene in market activities. Government officials are given power by the system to prevent ordinary people from pursuing their interests freely.

The extent of the centralization of power remains extraordinary compared to non-socialist systems. The government is seen to control land, resources and people, whilst also regulating and interfering in all business activities. Under this system, individuals are forced to pay for their freedom to choose. The centralized power, therefore, is the breeding ground for corruption.

We somehow unrealistically expect those people in power to curb their desire for pursuing their own interests by a moral standard. Unfortunately, when individuals are desperate to pursue their interests, people are bound to violate rules. Morality simply plays a minimal role in individual behaviours but becomes a political weapon for people and media to attack broader corruption.

As long as the highly centralized system remains in China, corruption is unavoidable. In fact, government rules are broken by both those people who make and maintain the rules and by those who are supposed to follow them. The highly centralized system is the overwhelming source of massive corruption in China.