Thursday, June 11, 2015

Chinese get cracking against corruption

Today I read about the sentencing of a Chinese security Czar to life over corruption charges. China's President Xi Xinping is cracking whips on corruption and the corrupt officials. He is now using his influence, persuading foreign countries to send back those who fled with ill gotten money. The list contains about 100 such people.
 
Amongst the fugitives is a bureaucrat who flew to America with $40 million of embezzled funds, another with $15 million to Singapore. Some of the fugitives have surrendered. A few still remain at large, being harder nut to crack, for they have fled to US, Canada and Australia with whom China has no extradition treaty.
 
Yet China has been able to press America to get some concession in the form of them agreeing to cooperate by deciding to repatriate some, with the condition that the cases being handled as per American law and value (it's just a standard rider from the Americans. No sooner than those Chinese guys are sent back to China, as some already are, Gulag rather than American value will be awaiting them).
 
Now the question comes how those government officials accumulated sums like USD $15-40 million without the compliance of others in China. I don't think they made $40 million overnight without the knowledge and connivance of others in China and fled. Yet, setting up an example by bringing a few fugitives back to homeland has it's effect, acting as a great deterrent, political vendetta or agenda not withstanding. When the bull is in China shop, they take it by horn. There will be damage but minimized.

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