ABSTRACT
China, among many other countries in Asia and the Pacific, and probably around the globe, appears to be failing in its anticorruption efforts. Corruption, however defined, seems to be on the rise according to the increased international attention it is receiving. But this may be more of the function of wider publicity than reality on the ground. Before the twentieth century, little was known about the inner workings of government except to insiders who kept very quiet, whereas the revolution in information technology and communications enables the populace to know much more almost instantaneously, certainly about public misconduct. Perhaps people are more vocal today about their unwillingness to tolerate corrupt practices which victimize them and fritter away scarce resources that go into conspicuous consumption or secret foreign bank accounts instead of societal development locally.
