How Corruption in China Works

(c) The Japan Times, Saturday, April 6, 2013

TOKYO - Some people say that 'corruption' is in China what 'freedom' is in the West: the single most important principle that kits their respective societies together. The Chinese call the crucial art of interpersonal relations 'guanxi,' the 'do me a favor and I do one for you.' In a recent article to The Japan Times, your author argues that indeed EVERYONE in China has to be corrupt (from a Western standard point of view), simple because the typical Chinese public employee doesn't earn enough to get by their official "salaries" alone (average $500-$800). The new government around Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang now want to "curb corruption" and "clean the government," and they think one way to do it is to "double the average income." It's never too late.