The tip of an iceburg

Recently a fraudulent case happened in China and it triggered much anger throughout the nation. Well actually fraudulence happened in this country everyday and everywhere so it should be no new thing at all. In fact if there is no fraudulence in a particular day in anywhere of the country then it is really a big news. This fraudulent case did arouse the concern of the whole nation though because it affected 210 thousands families altogether and the victims are children. It's sad to hear children again became victims.

The case is about a pharmaceutical company which produced vaccine which does not meet the standard. It also fabricated the GMP production record to forge a compliance. So apparently this is an organized crime throughout the whole organization from top management to floor workers. It is really as what the ex national president Jiang put it "too simple and sometimes naive" if one believes this is an isolated case in China's pharmaceutical industry. Or even the whole country?

There are many big problems in China now like corruption, suppressed human rights, pollution, huge gap between the riches and the poors but among them a common problem interwoven with all these problems, ie., lack of integrity in the society as a whole.

Ironically there was an ancient Chinese saying that a man without integrity is no difference from a cart with no wheels. In fact the Chinese business communities in the old times saw integrity and creditability were more important than their lives. Many big deals were conducted just based on trust. This was one of the great Chinese traditions carried down generation to generation since thousands of years. However, gone were the days when the nation was traumatized by the so called Cultural Revolution which lasted for 10 years in the 1960s'.

During that ten awful years there was literally no law and order. Gangs fighting overrode rules. What's more, traditions were criticized as bad things that must be removed. Formal eduction was halt because authorities were challenged. This affected the then young generations whom not only received no eduction but also were influenced by propaganda that outlawry was just revolutionary. Over the years these generations became parents and grandparents and they passed down this new tradition to their offspring. Now those then young generations or their children became the masterminds of businesses and those outlawry practices were deeply rooted in their minds.

Then later in 1980s' the theory of "be it white or black, it is a good cat as long as it catches rats" by the then national chief, Deng, promoted a rush on the nation-wide money making. The original meaning of this theory was meant to end the debate on the superiority between communism and capitalism but to focus on the productivity. However, with the lack of the ethical guidance throughout the nation this theory quickly translated into the version of "who cares as long as I made money? " and spurred a round of money-making storm without integrity since then. Compounded with the monopolized party ruling that prone to breed corruption, nowadays shameless became the norm in the whole country disregard whichever areas or sectors are.

When trust in a country became a luxury then it could lead to an even more serious issue, ie., how long the regime can last? Nowadays fraudulence in China is not limited in private sector or businesses only but throughout the government as well. However, China is so big and the economy scale is also huge so reliable information is crucial on the monitoring of the development on various activities followed by suitable and timely adjustment on the related policies to address the issues. The point is that accuracy of these information is not guaranteed as fraudulence became a norm and practice no matter in the public or private sector. Statistic could be just fabricated figures failing to tell the truth then how the central government can really see the problems and where they lie? Let alone the needed follow-up actions. This undermines the governance and puts the ruling in danger.

As China's economic strength is on the rise, it demands more say on the global affairs. To back this change on status quo China is flexing its muscle in high profile in this decade. Its huge market potential attracts many businesses around the world. People see a powerful and opportunities rich country is uprising. Or is it?

The North Sea Fleet in the Qing Dynasty was also seen as an invincible fleet that the dynasty was very proud of because all the warships were so powerful and were supposed to be best equipped with state of art technologies. However the fact was that because of corruption and fraudulence the fleet was only a shit. Many ships of the fleet were destroyed and some were captured when it broke into combat with the Japanese fleet in 1894-95. The whole world then finally realized that the once giant was nothing but actually an empty shell only. The fall of Qing Dynasty was attributed by many factors but corruption and fraudulence were no doubt among the key ones.

Now China displayed its military muscle to claim how powerful their army is. Could it be the modern version of the North Sea Fleet? The hardware of an army is no doubt important but what if the core is rotten with corruption and fraudulence which is already a known secret?( Thus Xi could capitalize this phenominon to remove Jiang's allies from the army). How much fighting spirit does it has when morale has gone? Let alone the army has never engaged in large scale real life combat for 40 years since the war with Vietnam in 1979. On the other hand its most probable rival, the U.S. army are involved in different battles openly or secretly from time to time to drill their tactics and competency.

Vaccine is only a tip, where does the iceburg lie?