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I understand the problem of rising wealth gap in China, but I missed the part in the articles you linked where it says that a very small and tight group of conn

by felipe 13y ago

I understand the problem of rising wealth gap in China, but I missed the part in the articles you linked where it says that a very small and tight group of connected people owns a substantial part of the country. Obviously guanxi and party membership are unfair and create such inequalities in China, but it seems to me that in Russia the issue is a mafia-like situation, while in China it's more of a system-related issue. (I am not trying to minimize the problem in China, I am just not sure whether they can be compared)

tokenadult 13y ago
My quick Google search at that moment didn't turn the last news story I read directly on the issue you mention. The story I found just now http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1217811/fight-corruption-china-must-push-disclose-leaders-wealth http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1217811/... isn't the same story either, but it is familiar to persons who follow news from China that the concentration of wealth at the top of the ruling party clique is very extreme--and unknown in its full extent, for lack of a free press.
- felipe 13y ago
  I do not read Chinese fluently, but I do follow news from China pretty closely (I lived in China for a couple of years) and I am not denying that top-members of the party are taking advantage of their position (Wen Jiabao as an example). Although I agree with you that we do not know it for sure due to the lack of transparency, the corruption problem in China is similar to the problem we have in other countries like in Brazil, where I live. And in both countries there always the forces "for" and "against" working to put things under the rug or investigate and prosecute, most of the time for political gain (Bo Xilai as one example, and here in Brazil we have other similar cases too). In Russia it seems that it's a different problem altogether, that is, a mob were able to literally seize part of the country, including the president's cabinet. In Brazil and in China we can say (sometimes cynically) that all politicians are corrupt, but there are opposite forces at play, but to me it seems like in Russia the damage is really catastrophic. (granted that I do not follow Russian politics, so I am not completely sure) (EDIT: Thanks for sharing the link btw, spot-on criticism from SCMP)

by felipe 13y ago

tokenadult 13y ago

My quick Google search at that moment didn't turn the last news story I read directly on the issue you mention. The story I found just now http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1217811/fight-corruption-china-must-push-disclose-leaders-wealth http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1217811/... isn't the same story either, but it is familiar to persons who follow news from China that the concentration of wealth at the top of the ruling party clique is very extreme--and unknown in its full extent, for lack of a free press.

felipe 13y ago
I do not read Chinese fluently, but I do follow news from China pretty closely (I lived in China for a couple of years) and I am not denying that top-members of the party are taking advantage of their position (Wen Jiabao as an example). Although I agree with you that we do not know it for sure due to the lack of transparency, the corruption problem in China is similar to the problem we have in other countries like in Brazil, where I live. And in both countries there always the forces "for" and "against" working to put things under the rug or investigate and prosecute, most of the time for political gain (Bo Xilai as one example, and here in Brazil we have other similar cases too). In Russia it seems that it's a different problem altogether, that is, a mob were able to literally seize part of the country, including the president's cabinet. In Brazil and in China we can say (sometimes cynically) that all politicians are corrupt, but there are opposite forces at play, but to me it seems like in Russia the damage is really catastrophic. (granted that I do not follow Russian politics, so I am not completely sure) (EDIT: Thanks for sharing the link btw, spot-on criticism from SCMP)