SPDC & CCP [CORRUPTION, ONE THING I

[moe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: SPDC & CCP [CORRUPTION, ONE THING IN COMMON

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 November 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".