To No End: Why China’s Corruption Crackdown Won’t Be Stopping Soon

[Aepsilons]

Good guy is the CPC member, Bad guy also is the CPC member.

I thought it was because Xi is both the General Secretary of the CPC and also the Central Military Commission Chairman that he is able to make unilateral decisions. Obviously the prestige of his lineage doesn't hurt, though.

Precisely. This is the very environment that can lead to abuse of power where there is a lack of systems in check to prevent internal fraud. There should be internal control mechanisms. Xi might appear anti-corruption, but who knows if he's really doing his job ? I mean, asides from News reports by state run media, who really knows what's going inside the party?

 

[Jlaw]

The CCP dicipline committee can investigate them, but who can investigate dicipline committee, themselves? No.

Sort of like anything in this world. Look at auditors for example. Companies pay them to do audit, but they can't give too bad of a news of the audit or the company will not use them in the future. Nothing is at arms length in this world.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Precisely. This is the very environment that can lead to abuse of power where there is a lack of systems in check to prevent internal fraud. There should be internal control mechanisms. Xi might appear anti-corruption, but who knows if he's really doing his job ? I mean, asides from News reports by state run media, who really knows what's going inside the party?

All systems lead to the possibility of abuse.

What matters is the internal "checks and balances", as well as things like transparency.

In order for President Xi to achieve anything, he needs the Politburo on his side. He can't just make unilateral decisions based on his personal judgement, he needs the support of the Politburo and especially the Standing Committee.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

Precisely. This is the very environment that can lead to abuse of power where there is a lack of systems in check to prevent internal fraud. There should be internal control mechanisms. Xi might appear anti-corruption, but who knows if he's really doing his job ? I mean, asides from News reports by state run media, who really knows what's going inside the party?

Agreed. I think that long term, China will resemble Singapore in both its economy and politics, but in the short to medium term, the CCP is starting to look more and more like Japan's LDP with its zoku giin (apologies if I mangled that, it's been a while) and factional politics. The winning faction accuses the previous faction, and then proceeds to reap the spoils for itself, with no checks or balances.

A Russian I know once hypothesized that the reason why Putin has been in power so long is not because he wants the power, but rather because he knows that as soon as he leaves power, he will be purged/jailed/stripped of assets, just like he has done to his political rivals. Thus, he holds on to power out of a kind of desperation, to avoid that fate. We see a few hints of that in the CCP's anti-corruption struggles, so it's an open question as to whether this anti-corruption drive is geniune, or yet another factional tactic. @cnleio has been very insightful in analyzing these factions in this thread. Only time will tell if this is simple political maneuvering, or an attempt at real structural reform.

 

[Aepsilons]

All systems lead to the possibility of abuse.

What matters is the internal "checks and balances", as well as things like transparency.

In order for President Xi to achieve anything, he needs the Politburo on his side. He can't just make unilateral decisions based on his personal judgement, he needs the support of the Politburo and especially the Standing Committee.

I agree, and in defense of President Xi Jinping, the kind of corruption initiative that he has heralded , probably, has never been seen in the history of the CPP. There might be some issues in the early phase, but with enough time, issues should be ironed out. What needs to be addressed and prioritized is the use of legitimate and independent auditors that can be protected from abuse of power by senior members of the Politburo.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

All systems lead to the possibility of abuse.

What matters is the internal "checks and balances", as well as things like transparency.

In order for President Xi to achieve anything, he needs the Politburo on his side. He can't just make unilateral decisions based on his personal judgement, he needs the support of the Politburo and especially the Standing Committee.

It has been my impression that Xi had significant influence in having "his people" elevated to the Standing Committee, which is one of the reasons why he is so powerful. Is there truth in this?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

It has been my impression that Xi had significant influence in having "his people" elevated to the Standing Committee, which is one of the reasons why he is so powerful. Is there truth in this?

Yes.

Only time will tell if this is simple political maneuvering, or an attempt at real structural reform.

Maybe both? Killing two birds with one stone.

The upcoming reforms are necessary to the survival of the Chinese nation. President Xi needs to do everything possible to make sure that the reforms are carried out, and for that to happen he needs to consolidate his power base in the government.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

Yes.



Maybe both? Killing two birds with one stone.

The upcoming reforms are necessary to the survival of the Chinese nation. President Xi needs to do everything possible to make sure that the reforms are carried out, and for that to happen he needs to consolidate his power base in the government.

If the Standing Committee members are loyal to Xi, then it's a bad omen as far as countering any poor decisions on his part. Who knows if any quid-pro-quo deals have been worked out?

For the sake of the CCP, and for the sake of China's current economic model, this anti-corruption drive needs to be sincere, effective, and continuous. We'll really only know if those three conditions have been fulfilled when Xi's successor assumes office.

 

[Edison Chen]

The CCP dicipline committee can investigate them, but who can investigate dicipline committee, themselves? No.

They do investigate themselves. I mean, they are also humans, they are in the system as well. So I don't trust them, they can also be political tools.

中央纪委查“内鬼” 更多网友信任反腐_新闻_中国搜索

Sort of like anything in this world. Look at auditors for example. Companies pay them to do audit, but they can't give too bad of a news of the audit or the company will not use them in the future. Nothing is at arms length in this world.

Yep, rules are rules, but who can really obey them.

They need to strictly insist their independence.
AICPA - ET Section 101 - Independence

 

[55100864]

Indeed Hu had no control over PLA during his presidency, u can see it from the strange behaviors of PLA over the last three years, like the First test of J 20 during the US defance secretory vist, the Beijing Ferrari accident etc.....Xi is a very clever and mature politician with strong support from the party and ordinary people, unlike Hu, Xi was growing up with many current PLA generals that promoted by his father. Jiang's clique is already semi died now, for those who still struggling, better to take the right side, the only way they might granted to keep their lives.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

If the Standing Committee members are loyal to Xi, then it's a bad omen as far as countering any poor decisions on his part. Who knows if any quid-pro-quo deals have been worked out?

For the sake of the CCP, and for the sake of China's current economic model, this anti-corruption drive needs to be sincere, effective, and continuous. We'll really only know if those three conditions have been fulfilled when Xi's successor assumes office.

I hope so as well!

China's economic development is far more important than any of these political games.

The truth is though, in these types of systems, you do need to consolidate power before you can make any meaningful reforms.

Hu Jintao's administration was held back from reforms by political infighting between different factions, most notably the influence of Jiang Zemin. From what we've seen so far, this will not be such a problem for Xi Jinping, since he now dominates the Politburo Standing Committee.

Now he has the power, what is he going to do with it? He needs to reform and repair China's system. And the good news is we won't have too long to wait before we see the results.

 

[tranquilium]

My mistake, then.

The leader of China typically holds three posts: General Secretary of CCP, which grants the power over personnel appointment; chairman of the central military commission, which grants the power over all Chinese military force and final the chairman the republic, which is the head of the state position, but it is purely ceremonial.

This is no different from other stable countries. In stable countries, leader of the state needs two authorities: 1. The ability to appoint personnel for different posts and 2. Control over military because ultimately legal authority of any constitution is only enforced by the strength of arms.

 

[terranMarine]

A true independent auditor is in my opinion not possible without obtaining power first in the Politburo Standing Committee. Only then these auditors will have protection from higher ups against high political / military officials. One can argue that the Committee will protect Xi's inner circle because of the close connections they have with Xi. This is a dilemma but without power one can't do anything at all just like Hu. Recently in HK ICAC (independent auditors) was also embroiled in a scandal related to its boss, politicians argues how can that organization investigate its own boss. No system is perfect, but at least Xi is dealing with large scale corruptions and so far it's looking good. We can hope this effort will continue after Xi's retirement. Xi will have to choose his successor wisely and keep an eye on things after that.

 

[cnleio]

謝謝同志我已經加入"陰暗面"很多年前. I am already way deep in the darkside my friend. No turning back.

Politics is the hotbed of darkness, even kill the president.

Welcome to the Dark Side, get ur cookie !

 

[sweetgrape]

The anti-corruption is not that simple, not just a anti-corruption movement.

Before, I thought Hu was too weak, now, I very respect him, hope Xi and Wang can build a relatively independent system for anti-corruption, after deal with these tiger, sometime, we still need blood and iron.