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

[BoQ77]

Official illegally taps 120 million yuan of cash from tap water supply
(Xinhua) 07:56, November 13, 2014


SHIJIAZHUANG, Nov. 12 -- A former official in charge of water supply in Beidaihe District, a sea resort close to Beijing, was suspected of bribe taking, corruption and embezzlement after 120 million yuan of cash and 37 kilograms of gold were found in his residence.

Ma Chaoqun, former general manager of a water supply company of Beidaihe in Qinhuangdao City, was also found to have 68 real estate certificates in his home, according to the latest briefing by the discipline inspection body of Hebei Province neighboring Beijing.

The provincial discipline watchdog has announced in August that Ma was under investigation without giving details.

The cash found in Ma's home could weigh as heavy as 1.38 tonnes, supposing they were all 100-yuan notes. The Chinese currency with the biggest face value is the 100-yuan note.

The 37 kg of gold, or 1,189.6 ounce, is equal to at least 1.38 million U.S. dollars based on Wednesday's price. The gold price has dived dramatically since last year.

The 68 housing units were scattered in places including Beijing and Qinhuangdao. Their value in total is yet to be known.

 

[TaiShang]

Official illegally taps 120 million yuan of cash from tap water supply
(Xinhua) 07:56, November 13, 2014


SHIJIAZHUANG, Nov. 12 -- A former official in charge of water supply in Beidaihe District, a sea resort close to Beijing, was suspected of bribe taking, corruption and embezzlement after 120 million yuan of cash and 37 kilograms of gold were found in his residence.

Ma Chaoqun, former general manager of a water supply company of Beidaihe in Qinhuangdao City, was also found to have 68 real estate certificates in his home, according to the latest briefing by the discipline inspection body of Hebei Province neighboring Beijing.

The provincial discipline watchdog has announced in August that Ma was under investigation without giving details.

The cash found in Ma's home could weigh as heavy as 1.38 tonnes, supposing they were all 100-yuan notes. The Chinese currency with the biggest face value is the 100-yuan note.

The 37 kg of gold, or 1,189.6 ounce, is equal to at least 1.38 million U.S. dollars based on Wednesday's price. The gold price has dived dramatically since last year.

The 68 housing units were scattered in places including Beijing and Qinhuangdao. Their value in total is yet to be known.

Good, another success story of China's anti corruption drive.

Is there any anti-corruption policy in Vietland?

 

[BoQ77]

I wonder how long those officials spend to collect such a huge amount of money?
And it's just the found amount. There's always much more.

 

[TaiShang]

I wonder how long those officials spend to collect such a huge amount of money?
And it's just the found amount. There's always much more.

View attachment 150667

Last 30 years, mostly, when China's growth boomed. Systemic failures allowed it to happen.

Now these areas are being addressed such as the above report from Xinhua.

There is much more, therefore, China is on the hunt. Just as the US is on the hunt of billions of dollars in some European banks.
What about our communist comrades in Vietland? You have no corruption. Maybe you are so poor that the only corruption involves stealing some banana from the neighbor's frontyard.

 

[LeveragedBuyout]

@TaiShang @Chinese-Dragon

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/20...hinas-rule-of-law-is-a-xi-jinping-power-grab/

This article seems to take an exceptionally cynical view of Xi's anti-corruption drive, but I was shocked to read this section:

However, an equally significant outcome of October’s high level meeting – the fourth plenum – is that Zhou Yongkang, the former Politburo Standing Committee security czar, has still not been expelled from the Party. This must happen before Zhou can be formally charged for his alleged “severe violations of discipline”, Party jargon for corruption. In our view, this delay signifies that Xi is still encountering strong resistance and concern within the Party top’s leadership to a trial of Zhou. That interpretation is reinforced by Xi’s failure during the plenum to gain approval for the elevation to Central Military Commission vice-chairman positions of two of his key allies in the PLA, Liu Yuan and Zhang Youxia.

On the economic front, it is equally clear that he has no current intention of relinquishing centralised Party control of the strategically important and profitable national-level state-owned enterprises, but rather is disassembling the existing structures and the vested interests associated with them in order to make space for his own appointees.
​

While the conclusion reached in the second paragraph seems premature, to put it lightly, the fact that Zhou Yongkang is still a member of the CCP is unbelievable. Can you corroborate that? What's going on, is Xi failing?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

@TaiShang @Chinese-Dragon

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/20...hinas-rule-of-law-is-a-xi-jinping-power-grab/

This article seems to take an exceptionally cynical view of Xi's anti-corruption drive, but I was shocked to read this section:

However, an equally significant outcome of October’s high level meeting – the fourth plenum – is that Zhou Yongkang, the former Politburo Standing Committee security czar, has still not been expelled from the Party. This must happen before Zhou can be formally charged for his alleged “severe violations of discipline”, Party jargon for corruption. In our view, this delay signifies that Xi is still encountering strong resistance and concern within the Party top’s leadership to a trial of Zhou. That interpretation is reinforced by Xi’s failure during the plenum to gain approval for the elevation to Central Military Commission vice-chairman positions of two of his key allies in the PLA, Liu Yuan and Zhang Youxia.

On the economic front, it is equally clear that he has no current intention of relinquishing centralised Party control of the strategically important and profitable national-level state-owned enterprises, but rather is disassembling the existing structures and the vested interests associated with them in order to make space for his own appointees.
​

While the conclusion reached in the second paragraph seems premature, to put it lightly, the fact that Zhou Yongkang is still a member of the CCP is unbelievable. Can you corroborate that? What's going on, is Xi failing?

Not much to worry about I think.


BBC News - China says Zhou Yongkang case 'may take long time'

China says an investigation into the most senior communist official ever ensnared in a corruption scandal is still going on - and may take a long time to complete.

But the government has promised to make public the case against the former leader Zhou Yongkang.

Before he retired two years ago, Mr Zhou was the head of China's vast internal security apparatus.



Mr Zhang said investigators from the party's own internal discipline department needed time to complete the "in-depth" investigation.

"I believe that [the] related department will definitely publicise the case in an appropriate measure and [through] an appropriate channel after the investigation comes to a close," he said, according to Xinhua.



Correspondents say the length of this case - Mr Zhou has not been seen in public in more than a year - suggests the authorities know they have to tread carefully with an investigation into such a powerful former leader.

 

[BoQ77]

Last 30 years, mostly, when China's growth boomed. Systemic failures allowed it to happen.

Now these areas are being addressed such as the above report from Xinhua.

There is much more, therefore, China is on the hunt. Just as the US is on the hunt of billions of dollars in some European banks.
What about our communist comrades in Vietland? You have no corruption. Maybe you are so poor that the only corruption involves stealing some banana from the neighbor's frontyard.

If you want to find more details visit my thread "About Ugly Vietnamese", I'm a simple guy.

 

[Aepsilons]

Official illegally taps 120 million yuan of cash from tap water supply
(Xinhua) 07:56, November 13, 2014


SHIJIAZHUANG, Nov. 12 -- A former official in charge of water supply in Beidaihe District, a sea resort close to Beijing, was suspected of bribe taking, corruption and embezzlement after 120 million yuan of cash and 37 kilograms of gold were found in his residence.

Ma Chaoqun, former general manager of a water supply company of Beidaihe in Qinhuangdao City, was also found to have 68 real estate certificates in his home, according to the latest briefing by the discipline inspection body of Hebei Province neighboring Beijing.

The provincial discipline watchdog has announced in August that Ma was under investigation without giving details.

The cash found in Ma's home could weigh as heavy as 1.38 tonnes, supposing they were all 100-yuan notes. The Chinese currency with the biggest face value is the 100-yuan note.

The 37 kg of gold, or 1,189.6 ounce, is equal to at least 1.38 million U.S. dollars based on Wednesday's price. The gold price has dived dramatically since last year.

The 68 housing units were scattered in places including Beijing and Qinhuangdao. Their value in total is yet to be known.

37 kilograms of gold? Dearest me! The face of greed never ceases to amaze me! And what was he going to do with that much gold? Put it in a pot for his leprechaun friends ?

Glad to know someone "coined" him in.

 

[TaiShang]

If you want to find more details visit my thread "About Ugly Vietnamese", I'm a simple guy.

I do not care about what is going on inside Vietnam. So save your little Ugly Vietnam masochism to yourself.

On topic, @LeveragedBuyout , I tend to look at the larger picture rather than focusing on the more speculative side of the anti-graft program -- unlike most of the Western media loves to do. Chinese-Dragon has responded very well to the concern of the blogger above and there is the larger story, which is the direct, quantitative, empirically-verifiable impact of the program.

I do not care about political gossip. Especially political gossip from the Western media regarding China.

Global Times had a nice info-graphics on the overall impact so far:

Anti-graft fight impacts travel, food and luxury industries - Global Times

 

[BoQ77]

Good, another success story of China's anti corruption drive.

Is there any anti-corruption policy in Vietland?

@TaiShang : you keep asking me those questions and say without care when I show you these answers.
You are complicated. I'm plain

 

[TaiShang]

312 fugitives netted overseas

The latest judicial cooperation between China and the United States to nab economic fugitives has made major progress, with more than a dozen suspects brought back from the US to face trial, a senior official from the Ministry of Public Security said.

Most of the fugitives face charges of embezzlement, misappropriation of public funds and fraud involving contracts and fund-raising, said Liu Dong, deputy director from the ministry's economic crimes investigation bureau.

A six-month "Fox Hunt 2014" crackdown launched in July to target suspects escaping abroad has nabbed at least 312 economic fugitives from 57 countries and regions, latest ministry figures showed.

Suspects will be transferred to prosecuting departments to face charges if police collect enough evidence, Liu said.

"As for those persuaded to come back to plead guilty, we will consider lenient punishment for them," he said.

Authorities have on hand "a priority list of alleged economic fugitives, including corrupt officials who are still at large in the US, and have requested the US to provide assistance for investigations", Liu said.

In recent years, the US has become the main destination for corrupt Chinese officials escaping punishment, with large amounts of illegal funds transferred due to lack of a bilateral extradition treaty and obstacles posed by complex and lengthy procedures.

A large number of corruption-related fugitives have fled to the US, and most are government officials or senior managers from State-owned enterprises, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Joint action from the two sides to hunt down the fugitives and confiscate their illegal assets has been positive, Liu said.

"Once we provide evidence of the suspects' economic crimes to our US counterparts for judicial assistance, they will adopt an active attitude to help us with the investigations."

If there is solid evidence that confirms a transfer of ill-gotten funds, they will "take immediate measures to freeze the suspects' assets including housing, bank savings and other investments in the US and criminally punish them, then issue deportation orders for them", Liu said.

In a recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing, APEC members set up a regional law enforcement cooperation network known as Act-Net to crack down on corrupt officials.

During the meeting, President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Barack Obama committed to strengthening cooperation on fighting corruption and repatriating corrupt officials hiding in the US.

Judicial officials from China and the US will meet in August or September every year to discuss their major concerns, including drug trafficking, weapons smuggling, cybercrimes and the hunt for corrupt officials and recovery of their assets, said Yang Shaowen, deputy director of the ministry's international cooperation department.

The Ministry of Public Security is also planning to set up an annual high-level meeting with US judicial authorities, including the US Department of Homeland Security, to apprehend more Chinese fugitives, he said.

"Due to legal obstacles and complex legal procedures, Chinese police are facing difficulties in repatriating fugitives from the US," said Huang Feng, a law professor from Beijing Normal University who specializes in extradition issues.

Once a case goes to US judicial organs, they do not disclose details to the Chinese side due to privacy concerns, he said.

The US judicial organs also seem prejudiced against the Chinese legal system and its procedures, and they mistakenly believe that "Chinese judicial officers will torture the suspects and prosecute them unfairly", the professor said.

"The US side should be more understanding of China's judicial procedures and be more active toward our request for an extradition treaty," he said.

Among the 312 economic fugitives nabbed in places like the US, Canada, Japan and Thailand in "Fox Hunt 2014", 130 have been persuaded to return to confess their crimes, ministry figures showed. The police also brought back more than 80 fugitives from the US, Canada, Australia and Belgium to face trial.