Corruption In China: How Public Officials Took $120 Billion And Fled Overseas

Economic Observer/Worldcrunch:

BEIJING - Just how many corrupt Chinese government officials have fled overseas? How much money have they stashed away? And how did they manage to transfer such colossal sums abroad?

Last week the Bank of China published a report entitled "How corrupt officials transfer assets overseas, and a study of monitoring." The report quoted statistics based on research by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Since 1990, the number of Communist Party and government officials, public security members, judicial cadres, agents of State institutions, and senior management figures of state-owned enterprises fleeing China has reached nearly 18,000. Also missing is about 800 billion yuan (more than $120 billion).

Read the whole story: Economic Observer/Worldcrunch

Comments

[jo smith456]

09:55 AM on 06/27/2011

CORRUPTION and GREED do not discriminate.

They come in all forms and sophistications.

[hgus]

08:17 PM on 06/26/2011

A lot of hatred being directed at the chinese on this. Lets be clear. The vast majority of chinese people live on a couple of dollars per day. They likely have a billion people who are just trying to feed themselves.

Sure they have corruption. And we can blast them all we want for demanding, or accepting bribes.. but shouldn't we just direct a little bit of anger at the people who pay the bribes?

Where does all this money come from? Who is paying government officials $120 billion dollar!!

This isn't government, so the only other group that has this much money is the Fortune 500!

Why don't we get mad at the corporations for bribing and destabilizing entire countries?

Gadaffi has $36 Billion in US banks. He has been debarred for decades. Who the hell is giving these corrupt leaders all of this MONEY.

This has to stop!

[fredgladys]

06:13 PM on 06/26/2011

Just curious, I wonder if the Chinese government is just sitting around sipping tea and muttering, darn those naughty people or, are they doing something about it. In the past there have been instances where various government's secret police have gone into other countries and grabbed offenders. Also china has enough hackers to be set to work to track down the stolen money.

[HanMeiRen]

09:05 PM on 06/26/2011

The most famous case is Lai Changxing who is still residing in Canada 12 years after escaping China’s justice.

Canada refuses to deport him back to China, first because of the potential death penalty he could face, and then for other reasons even after China promised to waive the death penalty to him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lai_Changxing

[nofriendofrepublicans]

02:59 PM on 06/26/2011

It's nice to see what a positive effect capitalism has had on a communist country.

[metaluna]

01:44 PM on 06/26/2011

Unfortunately corruption is a natural outflow from human nature and China is no exception (neither are we for that matter!). Chinese inflow to Vancouver Canada (probably including many of these same pilferers) have so bid up property values there that the city has become one of the world's most expensive and largely unaffordable by Canadian average citizens. One can be sure this is also happening in other favorite havens so we also end up getting hit by this process: we buy their stuff on credit impoverishing ourselves by sending our $$ which are stolen by corrupt officials who plow those $$ back into our properties and inflate their value!

[hgus]

08:23 PM on 06/26/2011

These government officials aren't stealing the money. They are accepting bribes. Who is paying the bribes?

[iceburg]

01:34 PM on 06/26/2011

How did they rob the money? They believe the people are sluggish, and need to be led all the way with imaginary terrors and consolations. So that the people don't know what is going on inside the circle of the slave-drivers.

[AbstractImp]

07:18 AM on 06/26/2011

Market Leninism -
You let the capitalists in, and
They'll steal from your mother.

[Parade Keegan]

11:21 PM on 06/25/2011

Glad to see China isn't all that different from the rest of the world.

[RecreationalPilot]

11:18 PM on 06/25/2011

Let me guess:

Goldwang Sux

[DenverWilliam]

08:40 PM on 06/25/2011

All these Chinese who fleeced the people are probably headed to the US....Great
More Republicans

[Wozzeck]

08:47 PM on 06/25/2011

Looked around at your local Costco lately?

[osofar]

08:38 PM on 06/25/2011

This is a mere drop in the bucket, compared to the stolen trillions the MIC, the banksters, Wall Steeters, and wealthiest 2% stole through their two party system in the USA.

[DenverWilliam]

08:50 PM on 06/25/2011

you nailed it....and all the dept they created in the process is socialized

[AbstractImp]

07:19 AM on 06/26/2011

Bingo.

[hgus]

08:31 PM on 06/26/2011

Sorry, i think this is much MUCH more. You are just looking at it from an economic perspective.

Corporations wan to increase profits, so they bribe Chinese government officials to allow them access to near slave labor. Hundreds of millions of chinese have their lives destroyed, by being lured or forced to work (the jobs that we used to do for decent wages) under awful conditions.

We, are pitched the fear of the chinese and give up on things we took for granted- Wages, vacation, healthcare, improving standard of living, education etc.

Ask yourself- how does someone get $120 billion? Does it come in taking a little bit here and there? No it comes in VERY VERY Big amounts. And its not Governments who is paying the bribes.

So who is paying the bribes??

[Steve Rockett]

08:28 PM on 06/25/2011

It was Newt who said we should be more like the Chinese. I wish I could remember the name of the other high ranking republican in Congress who said the same thing. I think it was Cantor, but cannot remember for sure. Anyone?

[Steve Rockett]

08:26 PM on 06/25/2011

Now the Chinese are really competing with our right wing corporate executives and the republicans in Congress.

[moonlightesq]

02:13 PM on 06/25/2011

If China rid of all its corrupt officials, there will be none left to run the government.

[osofar]

08:38 PM on 06/25/2011

The USA as well.

[moonlightesq]

02:00 PM on 06/25/2011

"Thousands of Chinese government officials have smuggled billions out of the country and fled, mainly to the U.S." Good, at least the money is coming back to the U.S.

[jo smith456]

10:03 AM on 06/27/2011

China, UK, Japan, Holland, Brazil, India are the top foreigner BUYERS of US govt bonds. Buying (or "investing" in) US bonds is one of the main ways to "funnel" money (or more "technically", LIQUIDITY) back into the US economic system (or more specifically, into the US BANKING system).