On the north side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, a giant portrait of Mao Zedong dominates the entrance to the Forbidden City, home to emperors for nearly 500 years. The veneration of a whole generation of Chinese, educated from childhood in the cult of the leader and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) picture-object - is used to fund the photographs million domestic and foreign tourists are made each year when come as pilgrims to visit the most famous places of the country.
Little remains today of the ideological heritage and theories of the founder of the People's Republic of China, created in 1949 after defeating Mao's Communists in the civil war against the Nationalists of Chiang Kai -shek. The Great Helmsman died in September 1976, and his successor, Deng Xiaoping, dismounted skill and pragmatism Maoist legacy and China embarked on a process of opening and reform, which triggered one of the largest and fastest changes it has undergone country in the history of mankind.
Little Helmsman implemented the socialist market economy, based on the so-called socialism with Chinese characteristics, which replaced the Soviet planned economy prevailing Central Mao, and urged his countrymen to work for the Chinese progress with the famous phrase " Getting rich is glorious, "which would become the mantra of eager country out of poverty.
But the jump to capitalism and the restructuring of the economy came rapid enrichment of a sector of the population, because in many cases, their relations with the party and corruption, a scourge that currently affects all layers of society, but it has reached its maximum between representatives of political and business elites, to the point that the leaders themselves have acknowledged that poses a serious threat to the survival of the CCP.
Mao 's world - that of an egalitarian society, the elimination of the propertied classes and the abolition of private property- is now only a nostalgic memory among the elderly, many of whom are angry with the excesses of a part of the class leader and long for the days when people believed in an almost religion called communism and not just "get rich".
In May last year, including Kong Dongmei, granddaughter of Mao Zedong, in a list of the wealthiest people in the country provoked a wave of criticism and accusations of hypocrisy always active in Chinese social networks, even though many of Internet born when the Great Helmsman was exposed and an embalmed body in his mausoleum Tiananmen. Kong, just over 40 years, and her husband, Chen Dongsheng, occupied position 242 of the classification of the financial magazine Nueva Fortuna, with an estimated 5.000 billion yuan (605 million euros) wealth. Kong bookstore in Beijing with Mao publications opened in 2001, having studied in the United States. In 2011, she married Chen, which controls an insurance company and an auction house, among other businesses.
Some Chinese netizens Kong accused of betraying the position of " great master of the proletarian revolution " from his grandfather. " The offspring of Chairman Mao, who led us to the eradication of private property, married a capitalist " criticized Chongmin Luo, a government adviser.
Mao 's granddaughter is just one of the many cases of family and close to the heroes of the revolution and entrepreneurs who have enriched to extreme lengths in the three decades since the beginning of reforms, thanks to his connections with people power.
A study made ​​public in June 2012 by the news agency U.S. Bloomberg revealed that, as the current president Xi Jinping rose through the ranks of the Chinese Communist Party, members of his family, both directly and policy, expanded their business interests with shares in the mining companies, real estate and telecommunications. According to documents that the agency had access, those interests include investments in companies with assets of 275 million euros, an indirect 18% stake in a rare earth company with 1,268 million euros in assets, and a holding of 14, € 8 million in a listed company. None of the property was linked to Xi, his wife Peng Liyuan - or daughter, nor was there evidence that Xi had acted to favor the operations of their family or that he or his family committed a crime.
The documents showed that the family had at least seven properties in Hong Kong, including a villa valued at 23.1 million euros. Most of the family assets were owned by the elder sister of Xi Jinping Qi Qiaoqiao; her husband Deng Jiagui, and the daughter of Qi, Zhang Yannan. Xi totaled CPC General Secretary in November 2012 and president of China in March 2013.
Another study, conducted by The New York Times and published in October 2012, revealed that relatives of the former prime minister between 2003 and 2013, Wen Jiabao, including his mother, son, daughter, brother and younger brother, is made " extremely rich" during the time of Wen in power. " A review of corporate and regulatory records indicates that relatives of Prime Minister, some of which have facilities to conduct business, including his wife, have controlled assets of 2,700 million dollars (1,980 million euros) " noted research.
Information about the Wen family was developed from existing records in corporations and regulatory agencies between 1992 and 2012. The investments range from banking to resorts, telecommunications, business jewelry and infrastructure projects. The names of the owners of the assets were often hidden by using offshore vehicles or complex corporate structures. Most fortune amassed since Wen was appointed deputy prime minister in 1998. The newspaper did not match any group of companies on behalf of Wen himself.
The research results, published three weeks before the renewal of the party leadership occurred with the coming to power of Xi Jinping and the other six members of the Politburo Standing Committee (the highest organ of power), unleashed wrath of Beijing and was a blow to the credibility of Wen Jiabao, who had lovingly cultivated during his tenure an image of austere, near the village and reformist man fighting against abuse and corruption within the party.
As published today COUNTRY, both relatives of Xi and Wen have used tax havens by companies created by themselves or their participation in companies already formed as revealed files obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ, in English). This is the case -law of Deng Jiagui - Xi-, and the son and son- Wen Jiabao - Liu Wen Yunsong and Chunhang respectively.
Red nobility and business elites have enriched and benefited from its privileged position in the midst of disappointment and resentment of a portion of the population, which assumes that have achieved success thanks to their good connections and relationships, term known as guanxi in China. The gap between rich and poor in China are among the highest in the world, which for years trying to solve the leaders without much success. While on the streets of big cities like Beijing and Shanghai abound sports cars Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche, led by the sons of big business and nomenclature, in rural areas there are still villages without running water, paved roads or sanitation.
According to the Hurun list of Mil richest of China 2013, published last September by the research institute of the same name, located in Shanghai, the number of billionaires in dollars has risen from none a decade to 64 in 2012 ago, and 315 in 2013. The richest of this classification, compiled by the British businessman Rupert Hoogewerf, is real estate tycoon Wang Jianlin and entertainment, with an estimated fortune of € 16.132 million. Wang, 59, and Wanda company owner, is the largest number of theaters owned the world. The mean age of the 10 richest is 52 years. Among the members of the list, 153 are members of the National People's Congress or its advisory body.
Some of the mighty are brought to you by corruption. The list of businessmen and politicians investigated in recent years by what state media called euphemistically " violation of party discipline and the law " has grown steadily. Among others Bo Xilai, former secretary of the party in the municipality of Chongqing and former member of the Politburo, Liu Zhijun, former Minister of Railways. China is ranked 80 of 177 countries and territories corruption ranking of Transparency International 2013. A higher position indicates a cleaner public sector.
Many of those who became rich during the Chinese economic boom has brought fortune abroad. China's corrupt officials took $ 124,000 million (90.929 million euros) from embezzlement or illegally obtained over a period of 15 years, according to a report by China's central bank published by Financial Times in 2011. Around 17,000 party members, court officials and executives of state owned companies left China between the mid 1990s and 2008, the year in which the report was written. The study was published on the website of the Department of combat money laundering Chinese central bank in June 2011, but was removed soon after it began to cause reactions of protest.
The new generation of leaders, who came to power in the quinquennial Congress of the CPC in 2012, has launched a crusade against corruption, the threat posed to the survival of the party. This was recently re Xi Jinping remember. " Avoid the Party is corrupt in the long-term government of the country is a fundamental political mission. And we do it properly," he said Monday of last week at a meeting of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the CPC. Xi promised zero tolerance for bribery and said harshly punish those involved. " Each CPC official must keep in mind that all the dirty hands will be trapped."
The official press has backed Xi whirlwind campaign. The official People 's Daily, organ of the party - published editorials officials warned that " the cult of gold and material possessions " are a way to ruin.
Beijing will start this year to conduct random checks on assets and other personal information to be provided by the match officials, and punish those who hide assets to public pressure for increased transparency. The statements are not made ​​public, and in the past the lack of oversight has greatly reduced the system to a formality.
The decision of Deng Xiaoping and his closest safeguard the supremacy of the CPC led them to put their families in front of the opening and reform, launched in 1978, which resulted in the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few. In the 1980s, many were elected to lead the state conglomerates. The development process was launched and has lifted hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty. But with this came the corruption and the excessive enrichment of part of the population. The egalitarian society ceased.
Tags: Communist, Corruption, erode, Power, scandals