Updated: Stamp out corruption the Chinese way?

A government official slaps a spa worker with a fat wad of cash and threatens to bury her under a mountain of banknotes, if she does not submit to his sexual advances. This government official, based in Hubei province China was stabbed to death by the women who later became a national hero, seen by many as standing up to a corrupt government official.

A side effect of the Pakistan-China, deeper than the depths of the ocean, higher than the highest mountain friendship, has been the evolution of a romanticised perception of China, of its leaders and its system of governance. Popularly, it’s assumed that corruption is non-existent in China. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Speaking on the occasion of the 90th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China, President Hu Jintao identified rampant corruption within the Party as a threat to its continued survival. He declared that fighting corruption will be a "protracted, complicated and arduous battle”.

Economists fear that China is heading for a “hard landing” in 2012. Recent statistics show that electricity production, investment, quarterly growth, retail sales and trade figures have all declined. Given the economic problems of the European Union, uncertainty regarding government spending cuts in the US; it come as no surprise that quarterly GDP growth fell to 8.1%. Now 8.1% growth may sound very good, however it is largely assumed that China needs to grow at at least 8% a year to keep a vast population satisfied and quell any signs of popular dissent.

With corruption having become a national issue and the prospects of a period of declining growth, the last thing the Chinese leadership needed was an internal power struggle. That is exactly what it got!

The purge of the populist Communist Party leader of Chongqing and politburo member Bo Xilai, was also tipped for a senior leadership post later this year, marking the once in a decade change of Chinese leaders. Bo Xilai, a “princeling”, as descendants of senior Communist Party members are known, had been ideologically challenging the current leadership, headed by President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. Xilai’s case has become more complicated as his wife has been arrested as a suspect in the murder of a British businessman, Neil Haywood.

The purge however has not ended with Bo Xilai exit. Others including his three brothers accused of corruption, state officials, and politburo members who actively supported him, such as the former domesticsecurity chief Zhou Yongkang and senior “princeling” generals have also had to leave their posts.

In Pakistan, many believe that the Chinese model should be imported and implemented, ignoring the fact that the very same system has created conditions of stark inequality and rampant corruption. Much like their Pakistani peers, Chinese leaders have been found carrying fake degrees, sanctioned illegal land grabs, involved in siphoning off billions of dollars offshore and perhaps most famously, have managed to sidestep a 2004 ban on newgolf courses, ushering in the construction of 600 of them since the ban came into effect.

Unlike the Chinese leadership that has admitted the shortcomings of its system and is pushing through reforms, we in Pakistan continue to believe in a “Chinese model” which is completely detached from reality. The CPC recognizes the unique challenges it faces given Chinas current international status and her domestic pressures.

So whether its Iran, China or Turkey, longing for importing a system which is perceived to be effective and corruption free but based on a fantasy does no one, especially us any good. 

China isn't corruption free. All those who romanticise an authoritarian regime that will take a hard-line, top down approach to corruption and "stamp" it out and falling prey to cheap rhetoric. It sounds good, it means well, but such talk is cheap and betrays neither an understanding of corruption, nor its incentives and how to mediate them.

It’s high time we in Pakistan did the same and appreciate that the experiences of other countries while informing our policies, are never flexible enough to be implemented wholesale. Especially, when our opinion of a country and her policies are based on a fiction, unrepresentative of reality. 

UPDATE

Talking about good governance, how is this for an attempt at displaying all the good work Chinese officials are upto. A rather poor effort don't you think? Could have got someone better to Photoshop!