Home » Opinion » Opinion Columns
Credit coops declare indebted officials to be 'dead' and debt-free
By Wan Lixin |
April 15, 2013, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN Chinese culture anything concerning death - to say nothing of death itself - is perceived as inauspicious, to be avoided at all cost.
So when the inevitable happens, euphemisms have to be used. In the past, jiabeng (carriage collapsed) would have been used of an emperor, hong would have been applied of a duke, and qushi (pass away) would have been said of one's friends and loved ones.
Today euphemisms would be unnecessary only in legal documents, or with bad guys, like traitors, convicts, or some figures who have been known to be hostile to Communism.
So imagine my surprise when I learned from reports that some dignitaries and well-connected people in the prime of their life and still kicking are being pronounced dead or missing, apparently as a favor.
It is believed that these honorary "dead" titles would give the conferees some solid financial advantages.
Beijing Times reported on April 8 that three rural credit cooperatives in Shenzhou, Hebei Province, have written off about 2.5 million yuan (US$396,000) worth of loans by pronouncing 58 debtors dead or missing.
Preliminary investigation by the paper found 13 of those said to be "dead" and six of those listed as "missing" are still alive, and can be located. They include county and township officials, court personnel, police officers, township and village cadres, or their relatives.
Many cases
Among the dead is Wei Zhichun, deputy mayor of Shenzhou, and Cui Peng, deputy police chief of the city.
Wei confirmed that he borrowed 410,000 yuan on March 7, 1997, from a local credit cooperative for four months, and failed to pay back the loan in time.
The money was borrowed to pay teachers' wage, he said.
Wei said he learned about his death from the media, and was very surprised.
Cui also borrowed 32,000 yuan from a cooperative in 1998, to pay local teachers.
He vowed he would never ask someone to issue a death certificate for himself.
Among the "missing" are a couple who now work in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.
Their fathers are, respectively, former and current Party secretary of a village in Shenzhou.
According to an official from the cooperative union, strict procedures governing loan write-offs for dead or missing debtors dictate that the process supported by relevant certificates, which can only be provided by the police. However, local police said they could never have released these certificates.
One police said death certificates can only be provided on the receipt of cremation certificates or certificates by the village, and upon the issuance of death certificates, the household registration system would automatically eliminate the hukou (household registration) of those affected.
Different reactions
"Which police dare to issue a death certificate for his incumbent deputy police chief?" asked Zhang Lizhao, another deputy chief of the Shenzhou police.
Of cause, Zhang said, exceptions must be made for those police who have been emboldened by a handsome bribe.
When the newspaper demanded to have a look at the certificates at a cooperative, the request was rejected on grounds that these documents are classified information. The classified information also includes the lists of those who are pronounced "dead" or "missing."
Liang Fengxin, director of the local cooperative union, was grieved by the leak of the lists.
"Information regarding the write-offs is in classified documents, and the leak is our biggest mistake," Liang said.
Beijing Times also found that in addition to write-offs for dead or missing debtors, there were also write-offs for "bad loans," based on court verdicts.
This involves Zhang Huiwu, a court employee, who borrowed 50,000 yuan in 2006, and the loan was written off as bad loan based on the verdict of the court, in less than two months.
Following online exposure of the case, Zhang quickly repaid the loan. According to online revelations, directors of cooperatives use their rights to write off loans as favors for well-placed officials. As for those who are not so powerful, they can also secure write-offs by giving the director 20 to 30 percent the write-off as a gift.
A legal expert said the expose already justifies legal intervention, for the write-offs must ultimately be paid by taxpayers.
So when the inevitable happens, euphemisms have to be used. In the past, jiabeng (carriage collapsed) would have been used of an emperor, hong would have been applied of a duke, and qushi (pass away) would have been said of one's friends and loved ones.
Today euphemisms would be unnecessary only in legal documents, or with bad guys, like traitors, convicts, or some figures who have been known to be hostile to Communism.
So imagine my surprise when I learned from reports that some dignitaries and well-connected people in the prime of their life and still kicking are being pronounced dead or missing, apparently as a favor.
It is believed that these honorary "dead" titles would give the conferees some solid financial advantages.
Beijing Times reported on April 8 that three rural credit cooperatives in Shenzhou, Hebei Province, have written off about 2.5 million yuan (US$396,000) worth of loans by pronouncing 58 debtors dead or missing.
Preliminary investigation by the paper found 13 of those said to be "dead" and six of those listed as "missing" are still alive, and can be located. They include county and township officials, court personnel, police officers, township and village cadres, or their relatives.
Many cases
Among the dead is Wei Zhichun, deputy mayor of Shenzhou, and Cui Peng, deputy police chief of the city.
Wei confirmed that he borrowed 410,000 yuan on March 7, 1997, from a local credit cooperative for four months, and failed to pay back the loan in time.
The money was borrowed to pay teachers' wage, he said.
Wei said he learned about his death from the media, and was very surprised.
Cui also borrowed 32,000 yuan from a cooperative in 1998, to pay local teachers.
He vowed he would never ask someone to issue a death certificate for himself.
Among the "missing" are a couple who now work in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province.
Their fathers are, respectively, former and current Party secretary of a village in Shenzhou.
According to an official from the cooperative union, strict procedures governing loan write-offs for dead or missing debtors dictate that the process supported by relevant certificates, which can only be provided by the police. However, local police said they could never have released these certificates.
One police said death certificates can only be provided on the receipt of cremation certificates or certificates by the village, and upon the issuance of death certificates, the household registration system would automatically eliminate the hukou (household registration) of those affected.
Different reactions
"Which police dare to issue a death certificate for his incumbent deputy police chief?" asked Zhang Lizhao, another deputy chief of the Shenzhou police.
Of cause, Zhang said, exceptions must be made for those police who have been emboldened by a handsome bribe.
When the newspaper demanded to have a look at the certificates at a cooperative, the request was rejected on grounds that these documents are classified information. The classified information also includes the lists of those who are pronounced "dead" or "missing."
Liang Fengxin, director of the local cooperative union, was grieved by the leak of the lists.
"Information regarding the write-offs is in classified documents, and the leak is our biggest mistake," Liang said.
Beijing Times also found that in addition to write-offs for dead or missing debtors, there were also write-offs for "bad loans," based on court verdicts.
This involves Zhang Huiwu, a court employee, who borrowed 50,000 yuan in 2006, and the loan was written off as bad loan based on the verdict of the court, in less than two months.
Following online exposure of the case, Zhang quickly repaid the loan. According to online revelations, directors of cooperatives use their rights to write off loans as favors for well-placed officials. As for those who are not so powerful, they can also secure write-offs by giving the director 20 to 30 percent the write-off as a gift.
A legal expert said the expose already justifies legal intervention, for the write-offs must ultimately be paid by taxpayers.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
