Summary
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping launched his sweeping anti-corruption campaign in 2012, more than 1.5 million officials, including some of the Communist Party of China's top leaders, have been disciplined.
Portrayals of China's political system are sharply divided.
Corruption and competence do not just coexist within China's political system; they can be mutually reinforcing.
This paradox is not limited to Ji. In a forthcoming book, China's Gilded Age, my study of 331 CPC city-level secretaries' careers, I find that 40 percent of those who have fallen to corruption charges were promoted within five years, or even just a few months prior to, their downfall.
Lo and behold, in 2018, 68 officials at the Central Organization Department were punished for corruption.
What both camps fail to grasp is the symbiotic relationship between corruption and performance in China's fiercely competitive political system.
Paradoxes define China's political economy. China is ruled by a communist party yet it is capitalist. The regime has a meritocracy yet it is also corrupt.
...