Friday 27 March 2009

Call to prevent officials fleeing

Mainland political advisers have joined hands to call for action over a growing exodus of bureaucrats allegedly fleeing overseas with tens of millions of yuan in embezzled public money every year.

1 comment:

Guanyu said...

Call to prevent officials fleeing

Fiona Tam
10 March 2009

Mainland political advisers have joined hands to call for action over a growing exodus of bureaucrats allegedly fleeing overseas with tens of millions of yuan in embezzled public money every year.

The Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League, one of the eight recognised parties, submitted a proposal yesterday calling for an early-warning system to stop the flood of escapees, state media reported.

League member Jian Shaoyu said fleeing officials had become a national phenomenon and many took flight once their families had emigrated. He urged the government to monitor potential escapees whose spouse and children were living abroad.

The joint proposal suggested launching a statutory declaration system that required officials at every level to file notice of relatives settling overseas or with properties abroad.

The league also urged the government to control overseas trips by officials and to impose a tougher travel application system.

“Fleeing officials have badly damaged the image of the Communist Party and our country, and had a negative influence domestically and internationally,” the proposal said. “But it also reveals that the party hasn’t done enough to oversee its cadres. [The government should] find an effective way to exchange information with customs about officials subject to corruption probes and likely to flee.”

League members suggested the government sign extradition treaties with countries where public servants had sought safe haven.

Last year, Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference member Xin Weiming, who was deputy head of Shanghai’s swanky downtown Luwan district, went “missing” during an official visit to France.

He was reportedly under investigation for corruption.

Corruption is common at almost every level of the Communist Party and its government.

Li Chengyan of Peking University’s Anti-Corruption Research Institute estimates that more than 10,000 officials have fled with a total of US$100 billion in public funds over the past decade.