Curbing Asia’s Corrupt Governments
December 12, 2018
By: Our Correspondent

Representatives of civil society organizations from nine ASEAN nations have been meeting for the past two days in Bangkok, seeking ways to fast-track implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in what has to seem like an uphill struggle.

All nine countries have completed the first cycle of the convention against corruption implementation review, covering criminalization and law enforcement and international cooperation, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, which is hosting the event. Indonesia and Malaysia have completed the second cycle and Thailand, Vietnam and Laos are at work doing the same.

Unfortunately, the CSOs as the organizations are known are fighting against deeply entrenched corruption. The countries sending reformers to Bangkok are Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. Except for Singapore, which has its own problems with authoritarian ism, the record might make observers into skeptics.

Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index for 2017 finds little encouragement. “…Our analysis reveals little progress across the region,” according to the report. “In the past six years, only a few countries experienced small, incremental changes indicating signs of improvement.”

Unfortunately, according to Transparency International, “the 2017 index also shows that corruption in many countries is still strong. Often, when individuals dare to challenge the status quo, they suffer the consequences. In some countries across the region, journalists, activists, opposition leaders and even staff of law enforcement or watchdog agencies are threatened, and in the worst cases, even murdered.”

The Philippines is among the worse regional offenders, the report says.

“While freedom of expression is under attack across much of the region, civic space is also shrinking severely. Civil society organizations in countries like Cambodia, Papua New Guinea and China are permanently under threat from authorities. In Cambodia, the government recently cracked down on civil society with the introduction of a restrictive law against NGOs. Cambodia is one of the worst-ranked countries in the region according to the CPI.”
https://www.asiasentinel.com/econ-busin ... vernments/

LOL!

As much chance of sorting this as fixing corruption in US banks - just ask Lloyd Blankfein.

Corruption will never be eliminated cause it's built into and is a part of the system.

That's why first world countries like USA; Canada and Australia don't have any corruption. Right ?

Duncan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:49 am Corruption will never be eliminated cause it's built into and is a part of the system.

That's why first world countries like USA; Canada and Australia don't have any corruption. Right ?

Yes and no. Certainly far less "street level" corruption than in ASEAN, but corrupt at the highest levels. All 3 branches of US federal government are thoroughly corrupt and behave as if they are above the law.

Captain wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 10:29 am

Duncan wrote: ↑Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:49 am Corruption will never be eliminated cause it's built into and is a part of the system.

That's why first world countries like USA; Canada and Australia don't have any corruption. Right ?

Yes and no. Certainly far less "street level" corruption than in ASEAN, but corrupt at the highest levels. All 3 branches of US federal government are thoroughly corrupt and behave as if they are above the law.

Add to that the Federal Bureaucracies of the FBI, CIA IRS,et.al. have all been corrupted.

True that, don't forget DEA, border patrol, DHS, and the entire alphabet soup agencies they have created.