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Official bribe-taker says he did his bit for GDP. True.
By Wan Lixin |
June 24, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
YANG Guangliang, a former vice mayor of Maoming, Guangdong, recently stood trial for taking more than 12 million yuan (US$1.9 million) in bribes.
Yang also needs to explain 34.6 million yuan and 24,000 euros (US$32,265) in his personal assets. Such amounts no longer surprise us.
But while admitting to all the charges against him, Yang appealed for clemency.
"Although I am guilty of the charges, I have not let my people down ... Over the years I have done my bit for the economic growth of Maoming," he said.
Yang is right about growth. Between 2007 and 2009 alone, Yang accepted 7 million yuan and HK$2 million (US265,760) worth of bribes from three companies to help them acquire land.
We can imagine the bribes would be a trifle compared with the economic growth that can be derived from subsequent property developments on the acquired land.
But Yang failed to see that although growth is a mandate from the central government, that kind of growth has been achieved by pauperizing the people. It's bloody.
Columnist Ye Tan commented in Thursday's Oriental Morning Post in an article headlined "Without land sale revenues there would be no new Beijing." That's a play on "Without the Communist Party of China, there would be no new China."
From 2009 to May 2011, the Beijing municipal government obtained more than 250 billion yuan in loans against its land reserves.
Currently the government needs at least 10 billion yuan a month to service the loans.
As land sales have dropped sharply due to central government's measures to depress the runaway real estate market, the municipal government is nearing fiscal bankruptcy.
Is that good news or bad news for the people?
When land sales stagnate, people would see fewer forced relocations in that city now dominated by surrealist landmarks. That's good news.
But local governments would not stand idle and allow that to happen. They would do anything to ensure that real estate will go up, forever. That's bad news, for the people.
Yang also needs to explain 34.6 million yuan and 24,000 euros (US$32,265) in his personal assets. Such amounts no longer surprise us.
But while admitting to all the charges against him, Yang appealed for clemency.
"Although I am guilty of the charges, I have not let my people down ... Over the years I have done my bit for the economic growth of Maoming," he said.
Yang is right about growth. Between 2007 and 2009 alone, Yang accepted 7 million yuan and HK$2 million (US265,760) worth of bribes from three companies to help them acquire land.
We can imagine the bribes would be a trifle compared with the economic growth that can be derived from subsequent property developments on the acquired land.
But Yang failed to see that although growth is a mandate from the central government, that kind of growth has been achieved by pauperizing the people. It's bloody.
Columnist Ye Tan commented in Thursday's Oriental Morning Post in an article headlined "Without land sale revenues there would be no new Beijing." That's a play on "Without the Communist Party of China, there would be no new China."
From 2009 to May 2011, the Beijing municipal government obtained more than 250 billion yuan in loans against its land reserves.
Currently the government needs at least 10 billion yuan a month to service the loans.
As land sales have dropped sharply due to central government's measures to depress the runaway real estate market, the municipal government is nearing fiscal bankruptcy.
Is that good news or bad news for the people?
When land sales stagnate, people would see fewer forced relocations in that city now dominated by surrealist landmarks. That's good news.
But local governments would not stand idle and allow that to happen. They would do anything to ensure that real estate will go up, forever. That's bad news, for the people.
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