Corruption: Hong Kong style

Does corruption have to involve money? Perhaps. Since if money were involved in this cheap move by the government, there would be hell to pay. Instead, this politically motivated "rule change" is the typical Hong Kong style of "over the table" corruption that is often overlooked in the public eye.

Fanny Law, current ICAC Commissioner (think about it, an anti corruption officer involved in corruption-like acts), has announced that she's running for the National People's Congress elections. Law has resigned from her position as ICAC Commissioner. However, she has not officially resigned, as she is still using up her vacation days from that position. Therefore, it is completely inappropriate for her to run for the NPC. A government official still in office running for an election is a definite no-no, as it undermines fairness and equality. It undermines the fact that government officials have to be fair and non-partisan. Oh, and by the way,civil servants are banned from running for the NPC, rendering Law ineligible to run.

So what did the government do? They simply changed the rules at the last minute. Three days before the nominations began, civil servants can now submit for NPC nomination. There was no discussion, no consultation; the government just changed the rules right under our noses.

The silly thing is that all Law had to do was forfeit her vacation time and leave the position early. That is what civil servants running for office have done in the past. As to why she didn't choose this method is mind-boggling. Then again, Law's track records as Secretary for Education and Manpower and ICAC Commissioner have been pretty piss poor. Perhaps she's just not very bright.

(This all reminds me of how Jiang Zemin changed the retirement age for government officials to get rid of his rivals and promote his allies. Is Hong Kong becoming this way?)