ABSTRACT
In 1980, communist revolutionary veteran Chen Yun, second only to Deng Xiaoping in status, characterised the problem of corruption as ‘a matter of life and death’ for the Chinese communist party. Other Chinese leaders acknowledged corruption as more serious than at any time since 1949, when the communists won power on the mainland in a protracted civil war. Yet, despite an anti-corruption effort that now extends back several decades, includes more campaigns than found anywhere else in the world and metes out the death penalty to corrupt officials, experts agree that corruption in China remains widespread and serious (Deng et al. 2010; Manion 2004; Shieh 2005; Wedeman 2004, 2005, 2012). Indeed, as best we can tell, corruption seems to have increased in incidence, scope and severity since 1980.1 Compared to the past, it involves higher stakes and implicates a greater number of higher-level officials.
