Corruption eroding PRC's foundation

They've promised robust economic reform, a better future for the masses and honest, upright government. But the latest generation of Chinese leaders keep colliding with a problem that won't go away: Their people simply don't trust them.

In an era when even the Communist Party worries about polls, the party's own numbers depict a Chinese public unsatisfied with efforts to stop corruption in government and the growing private sector -- despite leaders' repeated promises to eradicate the problem.

Bribe-taking and embezzlement are widespread throughout China, as chronicled by the government's own media, especially in bidding for construction projects in coastal boomtowns and in other scams that piggyback on the nation's surging growth.

In recent weeks, a provincial vice governor was sentenced to death for bribery, a crime boss at the center of a corruption probe was executed, and Nanjing resorted to paying its police not to be corrupt -- with a 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) bonus upon retirement.

Even the president of a university founded by Mao Zedong (毛澤東) to train communist revolutionaries was convicted last month of taking 610,000 yuan in gifts, mostly from construction companies bidding to build dormitories.

Corruption "erodes public confidence in the government and poisons its relationship with the people," the official newspaper China Daily said in an editorial a few weeks ago.

It said public confidence in anti-corruption efforts stood at just 51.9 percent last year. That's up from 32.8 percent in 1996, but still a stunning admission in a country where the party controls the media and enjoys absolute rule. The poll, which queried 12,000 people, cited no margin of error.

President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) has portrayed himself as a man of the people and vowed last month to get tough on graft, announcing a new effort to beef up internal party discipline.

"For every case of corruption we find, we will investigate and deal with it," Hu said.

China's rapid shift from a planned economy to a more capitalist system means the rules were made up along the way, and what's illegal isn't always clear. The result: Some local leaders decide for themselves, then pocket the gains.

In the banking sector, China's state banks were accused for decades of propping up government-owned industries no matter how much money they lost. Today, those same banks must follow market rules and approve loans based on economic principles.

Wang Xuebing, the former general manager at the New York branch of Bank of China, was sentenced to 12 years for taking bribes worth 1.15 million yuan. He oversaw the branch between 1988 and 1993, when that office made improper loans that cost the bank US$34 million.

Financial crime is the most pernicious in get-rich-quick China. In the most notorious case, Lai Changxing (賴昌星) is accused of smuggling billions of dollars in oil, cars and other goods.

The public's inability to challenge official China is a key hurdle to any corruption fight, said Joseph Cheng (鄭宇碩), a professor of political science at City University of Hong Kong. The news media and local legislatures must be allowed to speak out, he said.

Government media periodically herald high-profile crackdowns, such as the recent death sentence for a former vice governor in Anhui Province.

Such appearances of fighting corruption on a larger scale can help enhance the prestige of China's new leaders and ensure stability, says Ji Jinduo, a professor at the China Youth College for Political Science in Beijing.

"Anti-corruption efforts are not aimed at certain individuals but at the political system," Ji said.

Still, he added he's not optimistic about the future.

"China's present corruption situation isn't something to feel hopeful about," he said.