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Edouard Morton

China has moved up two places in a global corruption index of the world’s nations as President Xi Jinping waged a high profile war on graft that has netted thousands of officials.
Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index 2017 was released on Wednesday, showing very little change among the largest nations’ standings, and more than two thirds of all 180 participating countries with a score of less than 50 – out of a possible 100.
Leading the rankings, which are now in their 25th year and measure public sector corruption, was New Zealand and Denmark.
Hong Kong climbed two places to 13th position, with a score of 77, and mainland China edged up two places to 77th, but kept a low score of just 41.
Singapore improved its position by one, to reach 6th place, Japan stayed at 20th position, the US climbed two places to 16th position and the UK edged up to 8th spot.

But these marginal improvements in the rankings masked a more concerning trend in the overall scores, according to Alejandro Salas, senior expert on the Asia-Pacific region at Transparency International.
For example, he said Singapore’s score had fallen three points since 2012, while Japan and the US had barely moved.
Xi Jinping’s anti-graft drive has caught so many officials that Beijing’s elite prison is running out of cells 
India, like China, was stuck at 40, and Australia has declined from the 85 it reached in 2012 to 80 in 2014, and now 77.
“If countries continue doing minimum and isolated efforts, say signing international anti-corruption agreements or conducting some arrests and prosecution of individuals, they will fulfil the purpose of showing through media headlines that they are active in the anti-corruption front.
“However, that is far from being a sustained and impactful holistic approach,” he said.

Xi launched his sweeping crackdown on graft when he first came to power five years ago, and has so far disciplined officials from the highest ranks of the Communist Party and military, for graft or disloyalty.
After securing a second term in power last October, he has sought to ramp up anti-corruption efforts, introducing what has been described as a “super” graft watchdog to pursue not only party cadres but all civil servants. A national supervision law is expected to be passed at the annual legislative meetings in March.
How is China persuading graft suspects in Canada to ‘surrender’? An embezzler’s disastrous deal offers clues
Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research and author of The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order, said Beijing’s crackdown was having a largely positive effect, albeit with two consequences.
“Government officials are scared of green lighting bigger projects so business transactions have slowed,” he said.
“Officials are scared of getting fingered for being corrupt so it is easier to keep their heads down and not approve anything.”
“[And] in general the speed of business is slowing because of the bureaucracy and policies being implemented. For example, before one could bribe an official to get approvals for a real estate project. Now they have to follow a transparent bidding and approval system.”
But it is not so much the catching of officials – Chinese or elsewhere – that frustrated Transparency International’s Salas, who called for better press freedom to cover and examine corruption cases.
“Each country is different, so for example China has to do more beyond punishing some individuals,” he said.
“It has to allow journalists and activists to raise their voices, while the US has to urgently control the money that flows to politics from big businesses, and so on.”
According to data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, more than 9 out of 10 journalists were killed in countries that scored 45 or less on TI’s index over the past six years. And one in five of those dead journalists were covering a story about corruption.


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Corruption in Asia

Transparency International: China climbs two places in global corruption perception ranking as President Xi Jinping wages war on graft

China’s President Xi Jinping launched his sweeping crackdown on graft when he first came to power five years ago. File photo: Reuters

A snapshot of the shift in transparency rankings from 2016 to 2017

He Jian is arrested on November 7, 2017, after arriving in Beijing on a flight from Vancouver in this photo released by China's anti-graft agency, the CCDI. Photo: CCDI

South Africa widens corruption hunt for Zuma allies to China, India, Dubai

epa06519765 (FILE) - South African President Jacob Zuma attends the 'Dialogue of Emerging Market and Developing Countries' on the sidelines of the 2017 BRICS Summit in Xiamen, Fujian province, China, 05 September 2017 (reissued 13 February 2018). According to media reports on 13 February 2018, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party has requested South African President Jacob Zuma to resign as head of state, after talks initiated by senior ANC party members. If Zuma does not resign, he will face a no-confidence vote. Zuma has faced numerous allegations of corruption and was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa as ANC leader in December 2017. EPA-EFE/WU HONG / POOL

A police van and officers are seen inside the compound of the controversial business family, the Guptas, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on February 14, amid a graft probe over their connections to ousted former president Jacob Zuma. Photo: Agence France-Presse

China’s graft-busters set to finalise ‘super agency’ plans as war on corruption hots up

The creation of a “super” commission for fighting corruption is likely to top the agenda at the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection’s meeting in Beijing this week. Photo: Xinhua

China's President Xi Jinping (R) speaks to Wang Qishan, the head of China's anti-corruption watchdog in Beijing March 4, 2015. Picture taken March 4, 2015. REUTERS/China Daily/File Photo - S1BEUHZNBCAA

Zhao Leji, Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), stands as he is introduced as a new member of the Communist Party of China's Politburo Standing Committee, in Beijing's Great Hall of the People on October 25, 2017. China on October 25 unveiled its new ruling council with President Xi Jinping firmly at the helm after stamping his authority on the country by engraving his name on the Communist Party's constitution. / AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO

China’s graft-busters told to zero in on political loyalty and discipline

President Xi Jinping addresses the meeting of the Communist Party’s top graft watchdog in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

(180111) -- BEIJING, Jan. 11, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), presides over the second plenary session of the 19th CCDI of the CPC and delivers a work report on behalf of the CCDI standing committee, in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) (xzy)

‘It’s two sides fighting for power’: Vietnam watches elites on trial for corruption but will anything change?

Dinh La Thang, former Communist Party Politburo member and former chairman of PetroVietnam. Photo: Reuters

(FILES) This file picture taken on May 20, 2010 shows Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (L) and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Phu Trong (R) standing talking prior to the opening of the National Assembly's summer session in Hanoi. In the staid world of communist politics Nguyen Tan Dung -- who is likely to be named to another term as Vietnamese prime minister this week in January 2011 -- has brought ambition and media-savvy, observer say. AFP PHOTO/HOANG DINH Nam

Israeli protesters urge ‘crime minister’ Netanyahu to resign over bribery allegations

Demonstrators gathered in Tel Aviv on Friday demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu step down over bribery allegations put forward by the Israeli police force. Photo: EPA

epa06532443 Israeli protesters hold signs during a protest against government corruption, as they call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to resign, at the Habima Square in Tel Aviv, Israel, 16 February 2018. According to media reports, Israeli police on 13 February 2018 published its recommendations in the investigation of two corruption cases that involve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and decided to indict him for bribery. EPA-EFE/ABIR SULTAN

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits next to Chairman of the Munich Security Conference Wolfgang Ischinger (L) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde (R) during a lunch as part of the 54th Munich Security Conference, on February 16, 2018 in Munich. Global security chiefs and top diplomats attend the annual Munich Security Conference running until February 18, 2018 to discuss Syria, Ukraine and other international conflicts and crises. / AFP PHOTO / DPA / Sven Hoppe / Germany OUT

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Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index was released on Wednesday


Corruption in China