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China has taken state-sponsored corruption technology to a new and dangerous level.
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How Congress responds will define whether the United States will spend the next quarter century on anti-corruption or respond to a series of increasingly destabilizing Chinese thieves.
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A bipartisan bill against the strategic use of China’s corruption has just been passed and needs to be included in the final China-focused bill approved by Parliament.
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Scott Greatack is the Advocacy Director of Transparency International’s US office.
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This is the opinion section. The ideas expressed are those of the author.
Earlier this month, Xi Jinping Jintao of China Sharp nationalistic speech From Tiananmen Square. Xi boasted China’s “new model for human progress” and the Chinese Communist Party’s intention to “build a new type of international relations.” The president said that foreign powers trying to bully the Chinese peopleMake your head bloody.. “
Diplomats around the world are increasingly learning to capture China in that language. Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi recently warned that cooperation between the Chinese and Russian governments is expanding.That new friendship can mean a new surge State-backed corruption It threatens US national security and weakens its competitiveness abroad.
Congress is fighting back with its own toolkit designed to counter the growing impact of corruption campaigns in China and Russia. The House Foreign Affairs Committee recently passed to counter Russia and other foreign thief political laws (CROOK laws). New path Establishing a dedicated “Anti-Corruption Action Fund” for the first time In the fight against global corruption. The fund can be used to support anti-corruption efforts abroad, including efforts to combat the strategic use of China’s corruption to expand its economic and political influence in key regions of the world. ..
NS Crook method It arrives just as Congress begins negotiations on a broader China-focused bill. This is an important part of foreign policy legislation that the Biden administration is eager to pass with bipartisan support. These discussions provide a timely and consequential opportunity to launch a broad approach to combating China’s corruption campaign abroad. The fastest way to strengthen America’s defense is to ensure that CROOK is included in the final China-focused package.
Crooked agenda
While the CROOK Act has widespread application to combat the rise of thief politics (meaning “thief rule”) and other examples of state-sponsored corruption around the world, China has state-sponsored corruption. A new dangerous level of art. The Chinese Communist Party is now famous for using bribes and other forms of corruption to expand China’s economic and political influence around the world, undermining the rule of law and the democratic system. ..
At Transparency International, we’ve seen traces of Chinese corruption permeate almost every part of the world, from Africa to Southeast Asia to Mexico. In many cases, subsequent social and economic turmoil will further destabilize the region and reset the good government clock.
For example, the presidents of Chad and Uganda each said $ 2 million from the CEO of China’s energy conglomerate, which works closely with the Chinese government, in exchange for opening the country’s oil and gas markets to Chinese companies. He was offered a conglomerate of $ 500,000. .. Through such an extensive corruption program to exploit developing countries, China “Weaponization[e] Corruption to promote national interests.“”
In both Chad and Uganda, prominent local supporters and politicians, including Chad opposition leader Bobi Wine and Ugandan presidential candidate Bobi Wine, will help promote civil rights and accountability in the government. Asked. In these countries, stronger civil spaces and more competitiveness are targeted for new support to strengthen anti-corruption legal and institutional frameworks and effectively pursue large-scale cases of corruption. It can help ensure a business environment.
There is no corruption in China, like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an international corruption program hidden in the language of economic development and interconnection. The Foundation for Defense of Democracies states that for China, state-sponsored corruption opportunities are not a bug in BRI programming, but an important feature.
“China-led corruption is now pervading the hottest BRI projects,” wrote a senior adviser to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Elaine Dezensky.. “China’s influence is still approaching its highest level. BRI beneficiaries may be more dependent on Beijing as they work on a post-pandemic economic recovery,” she said.
All corrupt and volatile transactions signed by the Chinese government have a spillover effect on America’s economic vitality and national security. Without new tools to combat China’s corruption exports, the United States will eventually feel a hangover in the economics and governance of China’s corruption. That’s where CROOK comes in.
CROOK counters the effects of foreign corruption around the world by deploying resources that quickly respond to anti-corruption voices of foreign governments, civil society groups, and media organizations when integrity is threatened. Helps to do. CROOK’s dedicated anti-corruption fund builds a clean and ethical governance backstop to help anti-corruption champions fight authoritarian influence.
The flexibility of CROOK funding has a huge impact on the law. US foreign aid is often plagued by bureaucracy and bureaucracy, whether it was planned or already spoken many years ago. CROOK takes another path by allowing the US government to disperse anti-corruption funds in different ways depending on the situation in the field. This flexibility is key to responding to opportunities, crises, or moments of transition.
For example, if the runway is long, grantees can apply for and receive CROOK funding through a competitive review process. Shortening the response window allows you to select recipients from a pool of pre-cleared grantees. And when time really matters, US ambassadors can diversify CROOK funds at their discretion, similar to how the US Agency for International Development provides disaster relief.
The CROOK Act proves that while Congress provides an opportunity to make substantial improvements to US economic security, our MPs can still meet to address important internationally important issues. I am. Without CROOK’s improved protection, American companies operating abroad would eventually fall into the trap of Chinese influence. At that point, preventive policy measures are too few and too late.
How Congress responds to China’s increasingly explicit international corruption will either lead the United States to anti-corruption for the next quarter century, or a series of increasingly destabilizing Chinese adventures in field thief politics. Define whether it reacts. The full House of Representatives and the Senate must act with a common purpose and urgency to ensure that the CROOK Act is included in the final China-focused policy package.
Read the original article Business insider
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