OPINION> Commentary
Just say no to any kind of corruption
By Eric Sommer (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-10 07:44

Kindness and honesty are hallmarks of traditional Chinese character. I have frequently found taxi drivers, store owners, and others returning mistaken overpayments to me, or even explaining why I might not need their services at all.

In recent years, however, economic corruption has become a serious issue in China, and it also can become part of life even for ordinary people.

My wife and I were, for example, recently shopping for a new computer in the high-tech department stores in Zhongguancun of Beijing.

Salespeople in several stores told us that there were two prices for each computer - a higher price "with a sales receipt" and a lower price "without a sales receipt". When we asked why, we were told that not supplying the receipt meant the store could avoid paying tax on the sale. In other words, they could cheat on their taxes.

I thought about this, and then said to them: "I value money like everyone else. But we benefit from government services, like everyone else in China, so we want to pay our share. So please do charge for the tax and give us our receipt."

To be fair, honest salespeople in some stores told us that they only sold computers with receipts.

Small-scale corruption such as this may seem inconsequential. But it can create an atmosphere of distrust, dishonesty, and cynicism in which larger and more serious forms of corruption can flourish.

Before we bitterly criticize officials or business people for corruption, we need to examine our own everyday practice, to see if we ourselves are being just and honest in our dealings with others.

Some Chinese friends of mine are stoutly opposed to corruption. Others, however, have told me that "I don't like it but we live in this environment, so we have no choice".

What they mean is that we must succumb and participate in corruption on the principal of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". Personally, I prefer another adage when confronted with corruption: "It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness."

Back in the late 1980s a business associate of mine in Vancouver, Canada told me that we needed to send some "special money" to a Chinese official. The purpose was to "facilitate" doing a business deal that was worth several million dollars to us.

When I asked what the meaning of "special money" was, he used several other euphemisms, but eventually admitted that it was a bribe. I refused to do so.

Ever since, I've been very glad I made that decision, especially when I see the substantial number of Chinese financial and banking officials who are sentenced to prison or even death for corruption, as the current Chinese government campaign against corruption takes hold.

In the Western world there's a slogan which is sometimes invoked to encourage people to resist pressure from friends or peers who want them to join them in illegal drug use. The slogan is "Just say 'no'".

I'd like to propose a similar slogan for China. When asked to participate in corruption, whether on a large scale or a small one, "just say 'no'."

Small-scale dishonesty in everyday life can be the seedbed which breeds or supports larger-scale corruption, and we must eliminate both to have a truly harmonious society.

The author is a Canadian teacher living in Beijing

(China Daily 10/10/2008 page9)