China Slips in Corruption Perceptions Report
December 04, 2014
時報看中國
中國清廉指數國際排名再下滑
狄雨霏2014年12月04日
China's very public campaign against graft has netted thousands of officials both big and small — “tigers” and “flies,” in Communist Party parlance — but the perception of China as a deeply corrupt country is only rising, according to a leading watchdog group.
中國正在進行高調的反腐運動，抓捕了數以千計的大大小小的官員——用共產黨的話說，其中既有“老虎”，也有“蒼蠅”。然而，一家知名的監察組織表示，外界對中國是個嚴重腐敗國家的印象，卻有增無減。
In fact, global awareness of the scale of corruption in China is up sharply, according to the 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index , published on Wednesday by Transparency International , a nonprofit organization based in Berlin.
A spokesman for Transparency International, Thomas Coombes, said that China's standing was damaged by the perception among some experts and businesspeople that its anticorruption campaign was partial, opaque and politically motivated, casting doubt on its efficacy.
透明國際的發言人托馬斯·庫姆斯(Thomas Coombes)表示，中國的排名之所以下降，是因為一些專家和商務人士認為，它的反腐運動有失偏頗、缺乏透明，而且由政治動機驅使，其效果值得懷疑。
Mark Ralston/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
山東濟南一座法院前的警察。去年8月，倒台的薄熙來在這裡受審，罪名包括受賄、貪污和濫用職權。
“The campaign is just the tip of the iceberg, and is not even being done in a transparent manner,” Mr. Coombes said.
“這場運動只是冰山一角，執行的方式也根本談不上有什麼透明度，”庫姆斯說。
The index ranked China 104th among 175 countries, a drop of 20 places from last year, and the single largest drop in terms of ranking.
根據該指數，中國在175個國家中排第104位，與去年相比下降了20位，是排名跌幅最大的國家。
The worsening of perceptions of corruption in China may also be because the campaign, ordered by President Xi Jinping nearly two years ago, has exposed major structural problems in how corruption is being fought, Mr. Coombes said.
庫姆斯稱，中國的清廉指數下跌或許也是因為這場運動暴露了反腐手法中的重大結構性問題。近兩年前，在中國國家主席習近平的指示下，這場反腐運動得以展開。
What Transparency International looks for as a sign of genuine improvement in the fight against corruption is “permanent and structural change,” he said.
他說，透明國際認為，“永久的和結構性的變化”才是反腐鬥爭出現真正改善的標誌。
“I think the problem is what China is not doing: transparency and accountability of public officials,” Mr. Coombes said.
“我認為問題在於中國沒有做到：展現透明度、對公職人員問責，”庫姆斯說。
What is missing are “stronger laws on bribery, access to information, whistleblower protection, more open budgets and asset declarations,” he said in an email.
他在電子郵件中寫道，中國缺少的是“針對行賄受賄的更有力的法律、獲取信息的途徑、對舉報人的保護，以及更公開的預算和資產申報。”
Once again, Nordic countries were clustered at the top of the index, which grades countries on a scale of zero to 100, with a higher number indicating lower corruption. Denmark received the highest score at 92. China scored 36, a four-point drop from the previous year. Turkey fell by five points, the single biggest points drop.
北歐國家再次集中佔據了清廉指數的前排位置。該指數從0到100對各個國家打分，得分越高就代表腐敗程度越低。丹麥以92分高居榜首。中國的得分為36，在去年的基礎上丟掉了4分。土耳其下降了5分，是得分降幅最大的國家。
New Zealand came second at 91, followed by Finland, Sweden and Norway.
新西蘭得到91分，排名次席，接下來是芬蘭、瑞典和挪威。
“The fact that the Nordic countries are consistently on top shows how important free speech, accountable government and independent judiciary are to fighting corruption. These are all missing in China,” Mr. Coombes said.
“北歐國家一直排名靠前，這一事實說明了言論自由、政府問責及司法獨立對反腐的重要性。在中國，這些要素都是缺失的，”庫姆斯說。
China's ranking put it just below Algeria and above Suriname. Three African countries — Angola, Malawi and Rwanda — also recorded four-point drops, the report said.
中國排在阿爾及利亞之後，蘇里南之前。根據這份報告，安哥拉、馬拉維和盧旺達這三個非洲國家也比去年下降了4分。
Corruption in most countries was a serious problem, the index found. More than two-thirds of countries scored below 50, the halfway mark to a corruption-free society.
清廉指數顯示，多數國家的腐敗問題都較為嚴重。逾三分之二的國家得分低於50，也就是離不存在腐敗還差一半以上。
The index is calculated from 12 independent sources, including surveys conducted by different groups of businesspeople and other experts. Among them is the Executive Opinion Survey by the World Economic Forum and the Rule of Law Index by the World Justice Project, which looks at the legal environment around corruption issues.
In China's case, “several sources suggested the campaign is politically motivated, so more transparency and judicial independence would also help,” Mr. Coombes said. He added that China also needed to offer far greater protection for whistleblowers.
至於中國的情況，庫姆斯表示，“幾個信源顯示，反腐運動是出於政治目的，因此更大程度的透明及司法獨立會有所幫助。”他同時表示，中國還需要加大對舉報人士的保護力度。
A major problem with a crackdown without legal or political transparency was that corrupt officials could easily hide overseas, “indeed in almost any financial center worldwide, be it the British Virgin Islands, Delaware or London,” he said.
缺少司法及政治透明度的反腐運動存在一個重大問題，即腐敗官員能夠輕鬆逃至國外。“實際上，世界上幾乎任何一個金融中心都隱藏著這樣的人，不管是英屬維爾京群島、特拉華州，還是倫敦，”他說。
To combat that, the organization urged all countries, especially the United States and the countries of the European Union and the Group of 20, to create public registers “that would make clear who really controls, or is the beneficial owner, of every company” in an effort to track the international flow of illicit funds.
為了抗擊這種現象，透明國際敦促所有國家，特別是美國、歐盟及20國集團國家，設立公共註冊登記機制，“讓人們都清楚，誰是每一家公司的真正控制者和盈利持有者， ”從而追踪非法資金在全球的流動。
The organization lauded China for removing in principle its opposition to sharing information about the beneficial owners of companies at the G-20 meeting in Brisbane, Australia, last month, but said, “they stopped short of the public company registers we want.”
上個月在澳大利亞布里斯班參加20國集團峰會期間，中國同意原則上不再反對分享有關公司盈利持有者的信息。透明國際對此予以了讚揚，但也表示，“中國止步於我們希望看到的上市公司註冊登記制度之前。”
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