Corrupt Cadres

Peking's new war on crime

SHENYANG CITY CRACKS BIG THEFT CASE, blared the front-page headline in the Peking People's Daily. GOLD THIEF EXECUTED. Such lurid stories were once unheard of in China's staid official party newspaper, but recently the People's Daily and other Chinese papers have been publishing accounts of criminal wrongdoing almost daily. Even more unusual, the individuals being fingered in the press are ranking government and party officials. Reports TIME Peking Bureau Chief Richard Bernstein: "The fact that they are now being publicly denounced on the country's front pages indicates that the top leadership in Peking is stepping up its campaign against venal and corrupt practices within its own ranks, a problem that has long been a major source of cynicism and unhappiness among China's ordinary people."

Many of the crimes charged to Communist cadres show how easily officials have been able to use their power not only to violate the law but also to avoid punishment. For example, as head of the planning section of a factory in the northeast city of Shenyang, Guan Qingchong, the gold thief mentioned in the People's Daily, was able some 19 years ago to make off with 806 oz. of industrial gold. Ever since then, he had got steady promotions, while two provincial leaders had been hounded to suicide after being falsely accused of the crime. Guan's undoing came only last April, when, trying to profit from an increase in the state purchase price of private gold, he sold 100 oz. of his horde at the local bank. A suspicious teller notified the public security police, who quickly searched Guan's home and found the rest of his hidden loot.

Among convicted officials, Guan is one of the very few to suffer the extreme penalty of execution. Most of the others have been dismissed from their posts or jailed, with the stiffest penalties going to those who tried to blame underlings. In Zhejiang province, one commune party secretary named Ji Xinquan got five years in jail for having brought trumped-up court charges against two commune members who had exposed him for stealing timber.

The pattern of special advantages that are enjoyed by officials in China's supposedly privilege-free society is revealed in case after case. Even the strict population-control regulations can sometimes be flouted by those with power. In Guangdong province, for example, one commune party secretary's wife gave birth to a fifthchild--three more than the maximum allowed. When the overly fertile wife and her husband were both elevated to higher ranks, local townspeople were prompted to express their envy. Cadres' lives, they complained, are filled with "double happiness--a growing family and promotion too."

In another case that came to light last week, a Communist cadre named Hou Li used forged letters of introduction to hire a large dance hall in the name of the People's Liberation Army. Then he proceeded to make a killing by selling overpriced tickets to a ball that he arranged to be held there. His punishment: two years in a work camp.

Other abuses of power range from bribetaking in order to help people get exit visas for Hong Kong to falsifying university exam scores. One of the most common abuses among officials is influence peddling to obtain favors for their children. As a modern-day Chinese proverb has it: "The 10,000 things are good, but they are not as good as a well-connected father." In Shanghai, one clever young swindler named Tang Fang posed as the son of the first secretary of the provincial party committee, a ruse that won him not only watches, money and fashionable clothes but also the affection of a comely female soldier.

Corrupt and incompetent functionaries, in the eyes of many analysts, are numerous enough to be a serious obstacle to the country's ambitious modernization drive. What clearly worries Peking is the fact that, in a country where most people still lead poor, austere lives, abuses of power have a generally demoralizing effect. Admits one Chinese journalist in Peking: "It has taken us a long time to realize how deep this problem is."

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