plawolf
Lieutenant General
Anyways, trying to bring things a little back on track.
I think "corruption" in China is very different from most other places.
In most of the world, especially the developing world, corrupt officials abuse their powers to extort bribes, in the sense of officials refusing to do their jobs unless you paid them, or police effectively committing highway robbery.
In China, bribes are rarely explicitly elicited by officials, and are instead usually given voluntarily by the public with the expectation that the officials would expedite matters for them, or give their case/child/patient/whatever special attention.
In effect, its more like people paying extra for an unlisted "premium" service option, rather than having to "pay to play" as in other countries.
It is perfectly possible to get through everyday life in China without paying any bribes at all, it just means your cases might get thrown to the bottom of the pile, but it will still be dealt with in due time. Although by the time your case is heard, all the best spoils might have already been taken by those on the "premium" service, so it is a problem.
Things are further complicated by the Chinese culture of generous gift giving and lavish meals.
To the western outside observer, or westerners not used to these customs, it might seem like there is a lot of corruption in China, but the impact of that corruption is going to be a lot less egregious to those affected compared to the overt, "hand over your money" kind of extortion/robbery that passes for corruption in most developing countries.
I think "corruption" in China is very different from most other places.
In most of the world, especially the developing world, corrupt officials abuse their powers to extort bribes, in the sense of officials refusing to do their jobs unless you paid them, or police effectively committing highway robbery.
In China, bribes are rarely explicitly elicited by officials, and are instead usually given voluntarily by the public with the expectation that the officials would expedite matters for them, or give their case/child/patient/whatever special attention.
In effect, its more like people paying extra for an unlisted "premium" service option, rather than having to "pay to play" as in other countries.
It is perfectly possible to get through everyday life in China without paying any bribes at all, it just means your cases might get thrown to the bottom of the pile, but it will still be dealt with in due time. Although by the time your case is heard, all the best spoils might have already been taken by those on the "premium" service, so it is a problem.
Things are further complicated by the Chinese culture of generous gift giving and lavish meals.
To the western outside observer, or westerners not used to these customs, it might seem like there is a lot of corruption in China, but the impact of that corruption is going to be a lot less egregious to those affected compared to the overt, "hand over your money" kind of extortion/robbery that passes for corruption in most developing countries.
