Corrupt Police in Heilongjiang Province, China
For evidence of corruption in Heilongjiang Province, China, look no further than the story of Gao Chuancai.
Obviously there is something at work at present in China that prevents the oppressive regime from imploding upon itself in an outburst of paranoia and red tape. I just wonder what that is..
Heilongjiang Province
Maurizio - Omnologos 
> Obviously there is something at work at present in China that prevents the oppressive regime from imploding upon itself in an outburst of paranoia and red tape. I just wonder what that is..
Well, the fact that in the past it was worse… Even in recent history, the last years of decay of the Qing dynasty and the turmoil and lawlessness subsequent to its fall are something still well alive in the Chinese collective subconscious. Then there was the time of Maoist famine during the “Great Leap Forward”, then the madness of the Cultural Revolution… It’s not difficult to understand how, by comparison, the last three decades of increasing openness and double-digit yearly economic growth are seen as a golden age, and the governments that delivered them as quite decent.
Enzo Michelangeli
2008/Aug/21 at 01:19:44
that’s part of my question Enzo…what is keeping the Government “quite decent”?
omnologos
2008/Aug/21 at 05:48:11
> that’s part of my question Enzo…what is keeping the Government “quite decent”?
I didn’t say it is: I said that this is how it’s seen by the Chinese citizens. Human beings’ perceptions are based on change, not absolute values; and the changes in the living standards are what matters the most. Even in countries with universal suffrage, elections are won or lost based on recent performance of the economy (for which the incumbents may or may not responsible, but that hardly matters in the eye of the voters).
Enzo Michelangeli
2008/Aug/22 at 01:12:15