You absolutely must read this article about endemic bribery and corruption in China
Published:
July 25, 2014 at 10:34am
It’s in today’s The Independent (London). You just have to wonder how much is being creamed off by the Maltese and their intermediaries, and in which jurisdiction it is being hidden, on the ridiculous deals that are happening now.
I don’t think we can stop at ‘they’re bankrolling the Labour Party’ anymore. The Labour Party has since become the government and the situation has shifted from ‘potential decision-makers’ to ‘actual decision-makers’.
25 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/backhanders-bribery-and-abuses-of-power-have-soared-in-china-as-its-economy-surges-9627263.html
Very interesting. Shouldn’t we include the word “maiguan” meaning “to buy a government promotion” in the Maltese dictionary ? Jo, hemm xi cans ta’ maiguan,? Kemm tghidli ntik.
China’s president Xi Jinping is not tackling corruption. He’s removing the competition.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9b645f40-fac1-11e3-8959-00144feab7de.html#ixzz38T88Yw8e
“Mr Xi is targeting a broad swath of individuals, families, factions and societal forces that do not answer directly to him”
Journalists, lawyers, non-governmental organisations, activists and other vestiges of civil society have all been subject to greater controls and repression over the past year.
Most telling have been the harsh prison sentences handed down to transparency advocates for their peaceful anti-corruption campaigns and calls for party officials to disclose their assets.
The message is clear: the authority to decide who is corrupt and who is not is the exclusive domain of Mr Xi and his closest allies.
The GSK (Glaxo Smith Kline) bribery scandal in China was admitted as being USD 450,000,000.
This involved a whole level of vice – Presidents being under house arrest for a year or so. The money was paid through several dozen travel agencies as conduits.
Bribery is endemic – not universal – but certainly endemic and institutionalised over several centuries.
The reins of power in Malta are in the hands of ‘pimps, thieves and scoundrels’ who are now gorging themselves on the spoils of war.
According to the 2013 report of Transparency International – http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2013/results/ , Malta was in 45th place on the transparency list (in descending order of transparency) – China was number 80th (tied with Greece).
Within the EU, only the following countries fare worse:
1. Hungary;
2. Latvia;
3. Croatia;
4. Czech republic;
5. Slovakia;
6. Italy;
7. Romania;
8. Bulgaria;
9. Greece
I think there is no need to go through the socio / historic / economic reasons which have determined the aforesaid list. We are indeed in illustrious company.
Bahamas, Chile, UAE, Qatar, Botswana, Portugal, Puerto Rico and Lithuania are ahead of Malta.
This is unbelievable, how could Qatar be ahead of Malta? I wonder why. Brown envelopes work wonders.
file:///C:/Users/pb/Downloads/2013_CPIBrochure_EN.pdf
The sad thing is that many Maltese will not be at all shocked by this as they accept bribery and corruption as normal. There are also those who actually prefer it as a better alternative to working hard and with honesty to gain success. You get the government you deserve, and it appears that this is what we deserve.
China Communications Construction Company, engaged by Muscat to do a “free” feasibility study and “other projects”, is on yet another blacklist.
The state of Maryland has included the company on its
Investment Activities in Iran List for providing “goods or services in excess of USD20,000,000 to the energy sector of Iran.
The blacklisting makes these businesses ineligible to bid on, submit a proposal for, or enter into or renew a contract with a public body in Maryland for goods or services.
See page 5 at http://bpw.maryland.gov/MeetingDocs/2014-Jul-23-Agenda.pdf
Politics is all about making the right friends, feeding the right sharks and sorting yourself for life.
Cynical? Perhaps.
True? Probably.
Where one shark finds food, other sharks tend to follow the scent and lap up the leftovers, always hungry for more. And I am not only referring to Labour’s red eyed party boys or even the poster people. These are small fry compared to the big fish – Henley & Partners, the Chinese, the Azeris, even the Ukranians and the Libyans could have joined in had they not started gunning each other down.
All it takes are a few bank accounts and shell companies in the Bahamas and other tax havens and collecting your commissions as the the deals come and go. Either way, all it takes are a few nibbles and you’re probably sorted for life.
What an eye opener. This is so Joseph Muscat and the Labour party from beginning to the end.
“Everyone says no to the first invitation,” he explained. “After three or four invitations, any man agrees – and once you eat together, you’re on the way to becoming family.” brings visions of Shiv Nair at the restaurant and theater with the Muscat family.
“China Central Television, has been shaken by allegations that members of its staff took bribes to provide favourable coverage or to suppress investigations.” – the difference here is that all the people at TVM are Taghna Lkollers and none of them have the guts to speak up including all the othe media except you Daphe of course.
“By the time I met him, he was a novelist – a small, fastidious man of 50, who fussed with worried pride over his daughter and heeded her reminders not to overdo it at lunch. But, like many before him, when opportunity was everywhere, he had found it impossible to resist.” – Alfred Sant imqaxxar.
“He also expanded his auction business to handle foreclosures, in which a single signature from a judge bestowed the right to a hefty commission on the sale of buildings, land, and other assets.” – The Australia House saga.
“He had to build personal connections, and in that regard, he turned out to be a natural; he bribed judges first with cigarettes, then banquets, then trips to massage parlours.” – Does this have something to do with Jason Micallef and his brown envelope?
“If I made three million or five million one year, all I’m thinking about is how to make more the next year. If I’m number three in town, how do I get to be number one? It’s like you’re running, and once you’re running, there is no stopping. You just run and run and run. You don’t think about the philosophical implications. Psychologically, you are in a world of your own.” – Definately John Dalli and Joseph Muscat’s psychological status at present.
One can go on chapter after chapter making similarities throughout the whole article. The opposition is trying to get the people to realize that the change was not for the better and currently failing miserably because of this type of corruption and the lack of funds for an effective campaign.
“Now we need someone who can stand up and tell everyone that the pond has been fouled and if you continue to pollute it, nobody will survive.”
I honestly believe that that person is you Daphne.
Well said, Natalie.
Begs the question, why was a Chinese citizen hired instead of a local with significant more experience in marketing Malta as a location for foreign direct investment?
I’m by no means a supporter of the person who is currently engaged in this role (or the manner in which she was hired), but it’s worth pointing out that she does have Maltese nationality.
With regard to your question, aside from experience in marketing Malta the role demands experience working in China for a number of years in order to have established the necessary business contacts as well as a good command of Mandarin.
Is that why they sent you to Cairo? Because you have a good command of Arabic?
Oh Baxxter – are you going to try your hand at the ad hominem game too? I have to admit, I’m a bit awed to be in the presence of someone whose knowledge seems to extend from the finer points of the history of European cuisine to philosophy to the domestic politics of China and the countries of North Africa. Nevertheless, please note that:
i) you are in no position to judge my familiarity or otherwise with any language, apart from English;
ii) In any case, someone with your undoubtedly extensive range of knowledge should be aware of the difference between the functions of a diplomatic mission and the functions of a trade promotion office, and why the skills that are required for officers serving in both don’t necessarily overlap
Sai Mizzi has no business experience in China. Why do you think her CV wasn’t published along with her contract?
She did a Masters degree at Nottingham university while Konrad Mizzi was there, married Konrad Mizzi, lived in E16 in London, moved to Malta with her husband, had two children, cast around desperately for something to do, and the rest is history.
But that history doesn’t include business experience in China – not here, anyway.
Correction – not hers, anyway.
Yes, sure. Of course Mandarin is needed to promote Maltese interests in China.
And so does an office address. Or any type of address.
Sai Mizzi is a cover up for Shiv Nair.
I have had business in China for several years. Unfortunately, bribery is the only way to get things done there. Of course there is the right way to do things, it just takes forever and a half and at the end you may be asked for something extra anyway.
Sad reality of what it’s like in China.
If you had ‘business in China for several years’ and if ‘bribery is the only way to get things done there’ then it is reasonable to assume that you either a) did not get anything done (leaving one to wonder what exactly you did during these ‘several years’ or b) engaged in bribery as a means of furthering your business. Now, I won’t rush to assume that either a) or b) are true, but maybe you should not be so quick to tarnish the living and business practices of a country of 1.4 billion people based on anecdotal experience.
Anecdotal experience? Unbelievable to what extent PL apologists can go lessen the fact that we have a government of thieves, pimps and scoundrels.
We need not be horrified by what goes on in China. In Malta it seems we can do away with the judge and jury for some can dispense (read manipulate) justice and alter people’s lives forever. How can any above board procedure explain this:
”Although the German social workers said the process in Malta had been taking too long, it emerged in court today that no proceedings had yet been initiated by the time the children were abducted and taken to Germany.
This was confirmed by lawyers appearing for the agency in reply to a question by Magistrate Vella Cuschieri who also asked whether Appogg had filed an application to have the children returned to Malta.
Even in this case, the reply was negative, with the lawyers saying they had been told by the Germans that there were no sufficient grounds to request the children’s return.”
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140725/local/length-of-process-led-to-abduction-of-german-children-court-hears.529195
We are not going or becoming, anywhere or anything, we have surely died and gone to hell.
Do you think the same is happening here in Malta? The way things look from the outside, resemble what I have read happening in China.
Well said, Natalie.