How Can China Combat Corruption Effectively?

The anti-corruption campaign was a singularly central issue at the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China （CPC） and jumped to the top of the agenda as soon as the new generation of central leadership took office. Their recent moves are far reaching for Chinese politics.

Nevertheless， people really care about the effectiveness of the campaign.

To this day， China has not designed a mechanism featuring its own characteristics to fight corruption. The major feature of the Chinese system is interior pluralism， evidenced by excessive institutions of anti-corruption and decentralization of internal power.

Mutual Constraint amongst Anti-Corruption Institutions

Interior pluralism produces widespread malpractice. First， too many logical consequences of anti-corruption institutions result in extreme ambiguity of responsibility in combating corruption. Second， too many such institutions may simply increase corruption. Finally， excessive anti-corruption institutions may lead to corruption within the organizations.

The Chinese government has dispatched a great number of officials to Hong Kong and Singapore to investigate and learn their respective experience fighting corruption. They determined that those measures wouldn’t work on China’s mainland. They hadn’t realized that both Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption and Singapore Anti-Corruption and-Bribery Bureau are small in size. Their power is highly centralized and responsibilities explicit thanks to their anti-corruption mechanisms.

Interior pluralism causes many negative effects while deficiencies of exterior pluralism make corruption less manageable. As for external restraints， social participation works better than efforts by opposing parties. China， however， lacks channels for social participation to effectively combat corruption. Some of the current systems， such as reporting cases， are unworthy of their names， and might produce negative effects in some aspects.

How to make the system effectively hinder corruption？ The answer lies in a great reduction of interior pluralism and intensification of the power for anti-corruption institutions. In this regard， recent years’ super-ministry system reform experience can provide references for optimizing the anti-corruption system through an integration of all anti-corruption institutions. Of course， various departments or divisions should be formed within this organization， which should be directly attached to the top leading body. Where to start in tackling such messy shambles of corruption？ Methodology and policy should be updated for the battle. Before anything， anti-corruption campaigns should be based on emerging “competitive politics.”Foreign political practices prove that political competition itself exposes officials’ corruption in various ways. Actually， the explosion of so many corruption cases in China today， including those exposed online， are the result of political competition rather than anti-corruption measures. The leading body of the ruling party should ride such a general trend rather than impeding it.

Chance for Integrity

Above all， we should endeavor for integrity， which is entirely possible. There are many ways to make it happen. For example， when hiring someone for an official position， the candidate should be asked whether he or she is willing to disclose his or her assets. The candidate should be rejected if the answer is “no.” This simple question can at least prevent a future “potentially-corrupted official.” Those willing to make their assets public meet a crucial qualification.

As for concrete system configuration， there is plentiful room to strengthen capacity to combat corruption.

First， an ethics committee can be established within the anti-corruption organization. Corruption can be categorized as economic and other， such as sexual deviancy and infidelity. These matters should be handled by the ethics committee.

Second， anti-corruption doesn’t mean beating the “right hand” with the “left hand.” In a country with a single-party system， many of the corrupt are top leading groups. How can anyone manage such circumstances？ System configuration would do the trick. An anti-corruption organization must be configured with dislocation– a supervision mechanism over the lower level. Like the official assignment system， the anticorruption organization should be in charge of overseeing and examining lower-level officials， with income sources of the staff of the anticorruption organization insulated from government at the same level， to protect them from the influence of said government.

Corruption has been severely socialized in China， intruding into every corner of the country. Experience in other countries evidences that， in such an extensively， deeply-rotten environment， the only way to eventually build a clean government and an integrated society is to foster honest， upright officials starting with elites before gradually extending to all sectors.

External force in fighting corruption must be reflected in institutional behavior. For instance， professional auditing organizations， particularly those enjoying a good reputation， should be invited to participate in the campaigns. Additionally， the media， especially new media， should be considered a great contributor. Chinese media， particularly new media， has played an active role in exposing corruption. More efforts should be made to enhance its institutionalization.

All in all， anti-corruption is a major political undertaking. Breakthroughs will be reached with major support from system configuration. A complete set of systems encouraging corruptionfree conduct is crucial for restraining moral perversion.

Lo Shu and Ho Tu： Seeking the Origin of Civilization’s Patterns

by A Cheng， Zhonghua Book Company， June 2014

In his new book， A Cheng attempts to show readers the origin of Chinese civilization through iconography. The original image of the mythical Ho Tu， literally“Yellow River chart，” is preserved on costumes of shamans of the Miao ethnic group and bronze ware from the Shang Dynasty（1，600-1，100B.C.）. Some symbols from Lo Shu， known as the Nine Halls Diagram， as well as an image of Polaris， can also be found on costumes of Miao shamans.

Through analyzing various patterns， A Cheng proves that China’s civilization began with astrology and cosmology. Living fossils of China’s ancient civilization， the rarely-seen patterns on Miao costumes can be traced back to the Neolithic Age. Shapes and patterns on bronze ware from Xia（2，100-1，600 B.C.）， Shang （1，600-1，100 B.C.）， and Zhou （1，100-256-B.C.） dynasties are actually ancient cosmological depictions. This system is how rulers of ancient China proved the legitimacy of their power. Through interpreting cosmology， physical geography， and climate changes， A Cheng safely predicts the original environment of the East Asian civilization， and pinpoints the essential differences between East Asian civilization and civilizations of Central Asia， West Asia， Mesopotamia， ancient Egypt， ancient Greece， and Rome.

As an amateur enthusiast of many fields including literature， fine arts， music， and movies， A Cheng has made achievements that even amaze experts. This time， he combines documents， cultural relics， and field research in archaeology， astronomy， history， anthropology， and Miao embroidery to explore the origins of Chinese civilization through patterns.

A Cheng is a renowned Chinese writer and scholar. His wellknown works include The King of Chess， The King of Trees， The King of Children， Venice Diary， A Relaxed Talk， and Common Sense and Overall Knowledge.

Entrepreneurs – Kings of Economic Growth

by Zhang Weiying and Sheng Bin， Shanghai People’s Publishing House， June 2014

This book has become the basic handbook for information about entrepreneurialism. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in late 2013 stated that the market would play a decisive role in allocating resources， which marks the end of an old epoch and beginning of a new era of entrepreneurialism. However， who can be qualified as an entrepreneur？ Which is the source of economic growth， entrepreneurs or the government？ For entrepreneurs， how can they evolve from arbitragers and imitators to innovators， as defined by Joseph Alois Schumpeter？ In terms of enterprise development， who will make the best decisions for the future： entrepreneurs， government officials， or scholars and researchers？ And what are challenges facing Chinese entrepreneurs specifically？

This book tackles all of these questions. Although it was first published more than 20 years ago， its content is even more useful both in theory and practice today. Particularly worth mentioning is the book’s analysis of the relationship between entrepreneurs and government， which helps readers better understand the difficult situation of governmental industrial policies.

Zhang Weiying， professor of economics at Peking University， won the 2011 China Economic Theory Innovation Award for his creative research on dual-track price system reform. His works include Enterprises’ Entrepreneurs– Contract Theory， Game Theory and Information Economics， Enterprise Theory and the Reform of Chinese Enterprises， Logic of Universities， and Logic of the Market.

Sheng Bin， who works with the Shenzhen municipal government， has produced works including Report on China’s National Condition and New Development Economics.

Questions You Dare Not Ask Hitchcock， Ask Mr. S – Science in Movies

Compiled by Science Squirrels Club， Tsinghua University Press， June 2014

If a man from the Song Dynasty （960-1279） suddenly arrived in today’s world， he would be terrified， by… almost everything. What could we do to help him understand the new world and adapt to modern life in a short time？ Showing him movies could help， because scientific progress and technological achievements of the modern era converge in film. Actually， not only could a Song Dynasty time traveler learn a lot from movies， but also modern folks – regardless of the fact that we know so much more about human history and development. Not only do we know what things are， but we understand how they came to be. For example， after so many movies depicted split personalities and complicated dream states， spectators could easily grasp Inception， and even desire to know what humans could achieve by exploring dreams.

With this book， researchers from Science Squirrels Club have produced another hit. Through fascinating pieces of movies， the authors trace development of modern times. One case is King George VI and his speaking disability in the movie The King’s Speech. The book explains how a stutter develops， how it can be cured， and whether the treatment in the movie is actually reliable and workable. In Up， a 2009 animated film by Disney， a wooden house is lifted into the sky by thousands of helium balloons. How many balloons would actually be needed for such a mission？ According to the movie’s production team， the figure is 20，622. In Around the World in 80 Days， Phileas Fogg arrives just in time to win the wager because he “earned” a day due to the International Date Line. The book’s questions are： Who was the first person to realize time differences and how did people originally determine time zones？

Such questions make movies interesting. If we delve deep into any one of these knowledge points， we could be stacking piles of books. Things such as the environment of The Matrix， amnesia that appears frequently in South Korean films， and various depictions of Alzheimer’s disease cannot easily be explained with only a few books. This book endeavors to raise readers’ curiosity and encourage them to explore deeper themselves.

Dubious Future： How to Continue Reform？

by Zheng Yongnian， China CITIC Press， June 2014

Successful reform relies not only on strong determination， but more on concrete solutions to emerging problems and the implementation of effective measures and resolutions. As for how to overcome obstacles poised by vested interest groups during a new round of reform， where to find new engines of reform， which benefits will institutional innovation bring， why institutional innovation is so difficult to achieve， and which political， economic and diplomatic policies China should adopt when facing threats from the U.S. and other Asian countries， Zheng Yongnian， renowned political scientist and political commentator on China， gives in-depth and objective analyses and presents possible solutions for various problems in his new book， with unique perspectives and an objective stance.

Zheng believes that China’s reform over the past three decades serves as a foundation for the country to further reform comprehensively. Today， China is already standing at a precarious turning point of reform， and should pay more attention to the possibility of reform gridlock due to a lack of motivation. Facing various reform difficulties， Zheng proposes opening up new space for institutional reform， replacing vested interests by cultivating new interests， overcoming bureaucracy’s sluggishness by unleashing the potentials of society and local governments， and promoting social transformation by protecting society.

Zheng Yongnian， a renowned expert on Chinese issues， received his doctorate of political science from Princeton University. Now， he serves as director of the East Asian Institute， National University of Singapore， and head of the Academic Committee under Institute of Public Policy， South China University of Technology. He was a recipient of the Social Science Research Council-MacArthur Foundation Fellowship （1995-1997） and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship （2003-2005）. For years， Zheng has been engaged in studies of China’s internal transformation and international relations. He has published more than 20 books in English and Chinese in recent years， including Technological Empowerment： The Internet， the State and Society in China， De Facto Federalism in China： Reforms and Dynamics of Central-Local Relations， and The China Mode.