Thieving Thieves

by Bruce Krasting, Bruce Krasting Blog:

There was another chapter in the China Kleotocracy story the past week. Western press reported on a fellow by the name of Wang Guoqiang. Wang fled China with $30Mn in his pocket back in April. The problem is that the loot was stolen from the treasury of the city of Fencheng (Pop. 580,000).

The BBC and the Neue Zurcher Zeitung had the story. (I did not see it in the US press.):

Some quotes:

More than a million public servants have sent large sums abroad.

A million public servants? That’s a lot of crooks.

That officials create huge amounts abroad and then flee with their families is so common that the Chinese language has its own term: “Luo guan” literally “bare squad”.

It is the practice that corrupt officials get their families out of the country first, hence the term “bare.” I think this means that the Chinese are broadly aware that their political leaders are leaving the country with stolen money. It must be hard to govern when even slang language reflects what is happening.

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