http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/chinese-officials-fled-with-billions-says-the-central-bank/story-e6frg6so-1226077292580
Chinese officials fled with 'billions', says the central bank From: AFP June 18, 2011 12:00AM CORRUPT Chinese officials siphoned more than $114 billion out of the country in less than two decades, the central bank has said in a study highlighting the widespread scourge of government graft. Between 16,000 and 18,000 government officials and executives of state-owned firms have fled China or simply vanished with up to 800 billion yuan ($114.18bn) in illegal gains, the study says. Higher-ranking officials carrying larger sums of money mostly fled to developed nations such as Australia, the US and Canada, it says. A number of defectors used Hong Kong as a springboard to Commonwealth states while others hid out in small nations in Africa, Latin America and eastern Europe before they could get the documents needed to go to the West, it says. The rampant transfer of graft money out of China could "undermine the foundation of the party's rule" and has harmed the economy, warns the study, which was based on data compiled in June 2008. "Firmly punishing and effectively preventing corruption are critical to the winning or losing of public support and the life or death of the party, and therefore is a key political task the party must handle well," it said. Official graft remains pervasive in China and is a major source of public resentment towards the government, despite numerous clean-up campaigns. Some offenders highlighted in the central bank report simply carried cash in their suitcases when they crossed the border out of China or transferred money via illegal, private channels, the report said. AFP [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
