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Corruption, One Thing in Common: CC



Subject: Corruption, One Thing in Common: CCP & SPDC

Corruption, One Thing in Common: CCP & SPDC

 "Not fighting corruption would destroy the country. Fighting corruption
would destroy the army and could cause a rebellion in the army".

By Julien Moe

20th September 1999

Indonesia  was a model nation for the malicious ruling  military
brasshats
in Burma. When Indonesia's government led by Suharto failed and got
ousted,
the generals in Burma got stunned and stubbornly kept on rhetorically
saying
"We are right behind our brothers in Indonesia". Birds of a feather
flock
together. A deteriorating army has to necessarily support another army
in
another part of the world when things are not favouring the military
brasshats politically. 

On the other hand, China has been quite another reason why the Burmese
generals have been able to be too headstrong and stubborn to favour
political reforms. Interest-free loans, technological transfers,
intelligence sharing, trainings for the Burmese airforce are the reasons
why
Rangoon have said it  always supports One China Policy. On the surface
China
seems to be making progress in its economy despite lack of political
reforms. If the Burmese generals are copying the Chinese way to
democracy,
the following facts should be well known before it is too late.

There are flaws in the Chinese government's system that have been
deterring
the progress of the  nation. In fact, these flaws can become what can
cause
the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party, the ruling elite. The
central
flaw in  China's dysfunctional  fiscal system is the state's excessive
dependence on fee-based income, instead of tax revenues. The Chinese
fiscal
system is subject to abuse because almost 80% of such fee-based revenues
are
collected and spent by local governments which enjoy total discretion
and
exhibit more predatory behaviour than the central government. This is a
very
relevant scenario to the Burmese army collecting fees from  the
merchants
and businesses at the border. The Burmese army is known to collect
excessive
fees from merchants and businesses. 

A 1998 investigation by five ministries of the central Chinese
government
uncovered more than 3400 different fees illegally levied by local
governments and their agencies. There is no such investigation by the
SPDC.
If there were, one could guess how many different fees would be
discovered.This is how the majors from the Burmese army have turned rich
when they are posted where black market businesses explode. The majors
from
the Burmese army collect fees from merchants, businesses and even from
local
people wihout any direction from the SPDC in Rangoon. 

The political origin of such endemic corruption in the Burmese army is
the
SPDC's monopoly on power and the army's chronic inability to cleanse
itself.
"Not fighting corruption would destroy the country. Fighting corruption
would destroy the army and could cause a rebellion in the army".