BEIJING: China's “netizens” are looking to learn from India as they wage their own battle against corruption, following the example of Indian watchdog websites that report on bribery to expose corrupt officials.
Chinese Internet users have set up an “I Made a Bribe” website, borrowing the idea of the Bangalore-based Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy's “I Paid a Bribe” initiative, the Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po newspaper reported on Monday.
The website, www.ibribery.com, hopes to “stop seeking improper gains and promote equal competition, and return to us the dream of a fair China,” according to Reuters.
As with Janaagraha's initiative, the website asks Internet users to reveal their experiences of paying bribes to expose officials and government departments that flout the law.
China has the world's biggest online population, with more than 450 million Internet users. Cyberspace has emerged as the country's most vibrant platform for civic engagement, with the government controlling other media and little space for civil society activism.
China's Communist Party has acknowledged that corruption is among the biggest threats to its legitimacy, and, this year, pledged to crack down on widespread corruption in infrastructure and construction projects.
Only in recent days, the death of an official who led an anti-corruption agency sparked rioting and clashes between police and hundreds of residents in central Hubei province, after his family alleged that he had been murdered for exposing official corruption in land deals.
In China, bloggers have, in the past, exposed officials for corruption, while “netizen” investigations have prompted action on official wrongdoings.
Reuters reported that another watchdog website, www.522phone.com, recently detailed one case of a businessman paying 3 million yuan (Rs.2.1 crore) to win a contract.
“Don't think I'm trying to show off my wealth with this posting,” he said. “It's just I'm so toothless and helpless in the face of current-day society.”
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