Two ladies rushed through the automatic till at the subway station on one ticket and no one in the crowd raised an eyebrow on the practice.\u00a0 I do not know how they handled the exit at their destination, but there is an adrenaline rush from aberrant but tolerated behavior among the young who could afford the cost but get a high over getting away with putting one over authorities especially when performed in the midst of a crowd.<\/p>\n
Australia, the United States, and Canada do not have any extradition treaty with China so the three countries have been the favored destination of China\u203as ill-gotten wealth, and in the last thirty years, with the willing collusion of western partners who were schooled to think that corruption is a way of life in China anyway, the exodus of funds and families has been noticeable.\u00a0 It was easy to migrate if one had a hefty bank account to declare, and keeping the money legitimate did not constitute a problem.\u00a0 Western banks strewn in many protective islands around the globe enable corrupt money to find residency in law-abiding countries, of course, cum good and expensive accountants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
China just found a loophole.\u00a0With Xi Jinping and the CPC Politburo\u203as current drive against corruption in existing high government offices and officials, China invokes passed UN resolutions that obligates partner nations to assist in bringing known fugitives to justice when called upon.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the case of Australia, the matter has been beneficial to local authorities as well since ill-gotten funds have a way of not going legitimate, so corrupt monies remain illicit in their new locations, and countries like Australia would rather that such practices be returned to their country of origin rather than find its way in to its own shady underworld.\u00a0 China is in the process of applying the same on those who skipped town and headed over to Canada and the United States.\u00a0 None of the three developed countries mentioned have extradition treaty with China.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deng Xiaoping used \u00abtigers and flies\u00bb in his opening up and reform program that got Chinese businesses getting familiar with Adam Smith.\u00a0 Deng meant that Tigers when tamed can benefit the economy and the flies can be swatted when they swarm.\u00a0 Xi Jinping uses the terms to identify corrupt officials, tigers as the higher ups and flies as those in the lower echelons.\u00a0 Xi intends to eliminate both.\u00a0 One military \u00abtiger\u00bb got caught hoarding a ton of foreign currencies in his basement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00abSpider\u00bb is a media term used on a former leader who has difficulty relinquishing a leadership role and function by continuing influence either through surrogates and subordinates.\u00a0 Jiang Zemin at 88 fits this category.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Currying for favors was not invented yesterday, and \u00abkowtow\u00bb is a habitual local practice.\u00a0 So what passes for corruption in one place can easily become a sign of gratitude and kind consideration in another.\u00a0 E.g., where I live is relatively a new town, a satellite city of Shenyang in the current method of Chinese urban expansion by creating new hubs next to existing centers.\u00a0 At a family gathering, someone who worked in government happened to mention intentions to create a University town and a kin quietly takes the information to heart and bought up farmlands where he constructed new buildings for business and residences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ten years later, the relative handed over red envelopes to family members.\u00a0 His 30-story high-rises and apartments had made him oodles of renminbi.\u00a0 He wanted to share \u00abgood fortune\u00bb with members of his family. \u00a0The government official remained a faithful and austere employee, barely making mortgage and car payments, worried about his son\u203as expensive private schooling.\u00a0 So the envelope came as a timely and welcomed reprieve.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Was corruption involved in the deal?\u00a0 Technically, yes.\u00a0 Practically, no.\u00a0 I know that in the late \u201860s, NYC waste disposal contracts had my White Plains in-laws in a cozy corner on signings, but with clear implications on campaign contributions election time.\u00a0 Was corruption involved?\u00a0 Technically, yes.\u00a0 Practically, no.<\/p>\n
We all know of the number of drivers licenses issued Chinese nationals in the CNMI, the cost involved not on the published rates but on the understanding of gratuity for services rendered.\u00a0 The applicants thereby sidestepped the rules, a practice familiar to many who grew up in Asia.\u00a0 Many business folks went to EDZA when it was no longer bearable to pay 35 percent of one\u203as cost, and one was only getting out of the maze in Malaca\u00f1ang.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Brazil of the \u201880s, law offices served the function of facilitating papers through the official channels at an extra 10 percent of cost.\u00a0 Indonesia almost had a revolution when Mrs. Fifteen percent went beyond the traditional 10 percent of grease money; ditto, Malaysia.\u00a0 China is trying to overcome all that!\u00a0<\/p>\n
That may no longer be as widespread in Saipan as it once was.\u00a0 Bribes are no longer proffered nor requested. \u00a0\u00abWhat for?\u00bb a wit mused.\u00a0 \u00abWe issue vouchers!\u00bb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two ladies rushed through the automatic till at the subway station on one ticket and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[195,634,169,57],"class_list":["post-187268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-australia","tag-canada","tag-china","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}