In daily life I have no doubt that China is ravaged by corruption, that kind of system can’t function without it.
State bureaucrats have the power for every little aspect of life, they will all find ways to make that power more lucrative and people will always try to grease their way through. Xi getting a bit too serious about his anti-corruption push may be what finally deposes him, it would become life or death for very many powerful people. His anti-corruption antics are usually for show/finding scapegoats/getting rid of inconvenient people, the whole system is corrupt to the core.
Interesting point, the fact that the basic machinery works is why it’s the advanced machinery can be corrupt.
China is corrupt at the local level but it’s still early in its lifecycle, but presumably it’s future looks more like Bulgaria than Canada.
In daily life I have no doubt that China is ravaged by corruption, that kind of system can’t function without it.
State bureaucrats have the power for every little aspect of life, they will all find ways to make that power more lucrative and people will always try to grease their way through. Xi getting a bit too serious about his anti-corruption push may be what finally deposes him, it would become life or death for very many powerful people. His anti-corruption antics are usually for show/finding scapegoats/getting rid of inconvenient people, the whole system is corrupt to the core.
I guess, totalitarian regimes must be corrupt or incompetent to survive because otherwise the totalitarian must be perfect and omniscient.