BEIJING -- Several women stand outside Beijing's Xizhimen subway station
waving simple slips of paper at passersby. "Receipts, receipts" they brazenly
shout, trying to hawk fake paid invoices from hotels, restaurants or office
supply companies.
At a cost of 20 yuan (2.5 U.S. dollars), the receipts provide a good return
for those crooked enough to try and bilk their employers for reimbursement of
purchases they never made.
Despite repeated official crackdowns, this Beijing street scene, operating in
broad daylight, is a small sample of a widespread societal ill that is costing
the country billions of yuan. China's economic reform may have unleashed the
world's most powerful engine of economic growth, but for some people in the
country it has also opened a Pandora's box of greed, graft and corruption.
A veteran local prosecutor, Zheng Xinjian, says prosecutors are deeply
disappointed with the increase in lighter penalties and in the cases where the
convicted are exempt from punishment.
"Prosecutors around the country have made anti-corruption a priority despite
great risks and pressure. You must know that almost every year prosecutors lose
their lives or are injured," said Zheng suggesting that some corrupt officials
have paid others to kill or intimidate prosecutors.
Media reports show that ordinary people are deeply resentful of officials who
spend public money on extravagant lifestyles and abuse their power by helping
those who bribe them.
An online survey conducted by Xinhuanet.com in 2005 asked people what really
bugged them. Nearly a quarter of the 200,000 respondents said putting an end to
corruption was their main concern.
While the public feels the anti-corruption campaign is being hindered by
excessive leniency, the government finds itself being criticized abroad for
being too tough.
With China accounting for more than 80 percent of the world's death
sentences, an international lobby has urged China to abolish capital punishment
for non-violent, white-collar economic crimes.
Sentencing embezzlers to death has also made it difficult to seek the
extradition of suspects who have fled the country. In order to persuade Western
countries to hand over the accused, China must pledge not to execute them. As a
result, the number of economic criminals who have found safe havens abroad has
risen sharply.
According to figures from the Ministry of Public Security, more than 500
people accused of embezzlement fled the country in 2005 alone.
The country's most wanted fugitive, Lai Changxing, accused of being the
mastermind behind the country's largest smuggling ring, fled to Canada in 1999
and remains there where he is confined to his home.
Beijing wants to bring him back to face charges of smuggling, bribery and tax
evasion. However, Canadian officials have been unwilling to allow Lai's
extradition because he could be sentenced to death.
China has reportedly pledged that Lai won't face capital punishment if he's
convicted. A Beijing lawyer, Chen Chuangdong, approved of the move. "The more we
limit the use of the death penalty the more life sentences will be handed out,"
he said. "This is more humane and still ensures that justice is achieved."
In April this year, China promised to exempt from the death penalty criminal
suspects in the extradition treaty between China and Spain. China's legislators
say it's a significant step that will help stop corrupt officials from fleeing
abroad.
A survey by the Ministry of Justice in 2005 found that the majority of
criminals who were sentenced to life imprisonment actually served 15 to 16 years
before being released. Official statistics show that in 2004, only two of the 11
people sentenced to death for economic crimes were executed.
Shao Daosheng from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says leaders know
clearly how corruption threatens the government. "They are certainly aware that
the widening gap between the rich and poor, especially when it's exacerbated by
corruption and abuse of power, will be a recipe for general social and political
dissatisfaction and instability. The government is taking the issue very, very
seriously," he said.
