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To: StockDung who wrote (9052)	7/31/2000 4:44:16 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10354

"AWSJ: China Sentences Official To Death For Corruption 7/31/0 16:31[Guess they deal with corruption differently in China] By Karby Leggett Staff Reporter SHANGHAI -- China sentenced a senior Communist Party official to death for corruption in one of the highest-level prosecutions since the Communist party came to power five decades ago. But the sentence meted out Monday to Cheng Kejie, a former vice chairman of China's national legislature and head of an impoverished province in southern China, underscores the uphill battle faced by corruption fighters. Mr. Cheng seemed to enjoy almost unlimited power while head of Guangxi province, allowing him to pocket $5 million while brokering a series of real-estate and banking deals. Later, China's lack of checks and balances allowed him to be promoted to his legislative job in Beijing. China's normally closed-mouthed official press detailed how Mr. Cheng and his mistress, who the court said arranged clients to see Mr. Cheng, bullied local governments, central government agencies and banks into channeling business to his clients. The cases occurred between 1994 and 1998 when Mr. Cheng was head of the people's government of Guangxi province. They involved a number of high-profile real-estate projects, which Mr. Cheng is alleged to have pushed through local governments. In addition, the court said Mr. Cheng took money from local officials in exchange for getting them promotions. He also received $75,000 from the Guangxi Investment and Trust Company to get $2 million in bank loans from two prominent national banks, the China Construction Bank and the Bank of China. Almost all the money was deposited overseas and has since been recovered, the government announcement said. It also said that Mr. Cheng, 66 years old, has 10 days to appeal the verdict, though few in government and party circles believe the ruling will be reversed. "The amount of bribes Cheng took was extremely huge," said the verdict, according to the Xinhua news agency. "The crimes he committed in the capacity of a senior leading official has seriously violated the normal working order of government institutions, tarnished the clean and honest image of government functionaries, discredited the fine reputation of government officials, and thus should be harshly dealt with in accordance with the law." Mr. Cheng's conviction is part of a campaign against corruption aimed at placating the widespread public view in China that corruption is endemic and growing rapidly. The campaign, however, is seen by many political watchers in Beijing as an effort to settle scores with officials now in disfavor. Many of the accused officials are officials who "lack an umbrella big enough to protect them," said He Qinglian, a former government official who has become one of China's biggest critics of official malfeasance. Ms. He, who recently came under fire from the government for her outspoken stance on corruption, said there are dozens of top-level government officials now under investigation for corruption, but that Beijing has ordered state media to steer clear of these cases amid concerns they could trigger political infighting. One example of this contradiction: a year-long investigation into a major smuggling ring in the southern city of Xiamen, a case estimated to involve about $10 billion in smuggled goods. Beijing is still trying to close that investigation, but progress has been slowed by a handful of senior government officials who are connected to it, officials say. Part of the problem is that China lacks an independent media or anticorruption watchdog, meaning that all investigations are "internal" affairs of the Communist Party that rarely reach conclusions and even more rarely draw conclusions that are enforced. Indeed, some worry that corruption in China may in fact be increasing, despite Beijing's efforts. In each of the past two years, China has poured upward of $30 billion into new infrastructure projects aimed at boosting growth and creating new jobs for millions of unemployed. More recently, it has begun investing heavily in its underdeveloped western region, where growth has lagged far behind the rest of the country. Yet this spending may be creating new opportunities for graft. Some of Mr. Cheng's projects, for example, involved government subsidies -- the sort of money that is expected to flow into western China. Says Ms. He: "Under the current system, the start of large new construction project in China simply creates new opportunities for graft."