The Chicago Tribune looks at two recent legal cases in China, those of corrupt official Wang Yuexi and imprisoned journalist Lu Gengsong, to examine the inherent contradictions in the current fight against corruption:
So in China today, what is the greater crime — being corrupt or uncovering those who are?
That question is at the heart of China’s tortured effort to rid business and government of widespread abuses of power. Even as this one-party state improves anti-corruption laws, it punishes those who speak out independently against powerful interests…
The culture of corruption — and the relentless sloganeering against it — have become hallmarks of China’s economic rise. Three decades of growth have created torrents of new wealth faster than the state could impose law on a system that relies heavily on personal connections and influence-peddling.
