A report released earlier this year from the Beijing University Research Center for Clean Government Construction revealed that over 10,000 of China’s corrupt officials had fled to North America and Europe over the last decade. Many of them remain at large.

A Xinhua News Agency article published on July 13 disclosed various tricks the corrupt officials have used in fleeing the country. Many of them had made early preparations. They first had their relatives settle down abroad, and once the public was on to their schemes they would abscond overseas, transforming instantly from a Communist official to an immigrant in Europe or North America.

Guizhou-based rights activist Chen Xi said that China’s opening to the outside world had provided new opportunities for these officials to flee the country.

“The Xinhua News Agency once reported that former Shanghai Communist party secretary Chen Liangyu had nine passports,” Chen said.

“China’s corrupt officials view the international environment as a helpful aid to support their greed. For example, they came up with a strange idea, which in China is known as being a “naked” official. These officials make arrangements for their children and family to be sent abroad, while they remain in China and continue making money. At any sign of danger, they simply flee,” he said.

When asked whether there is away to thwart these corrupt schemes, “Under the one-party dictatorship, I do not have any good suggestions,” Chen replied.

“Some people say that if the corruption problem is not solved, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will perish. While there is some truth to this, at the same time it should be noted that the prevalence of corruption has led to a powerful interest group within the CCP that is difficult to shake,” Chen added.

Professor Zhan Su from Canada’s Laval University said that while political corruption can be found in most governments, it is particularly prominent in China.

“It is not realistic to avoid corruption completely. No country can achieve that,” the professor said.

“However I think that the corruption in China is more prominent than in most other countries. What is the problem? First is an issue of mechanism. Everyone knows that absolute power leads to absolute corruption.  Since China chose this kind of political system, there is of course no possibility of a political substitution. I think this is the most fundamental problem.”

Read the original Chinese article.