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The corruption numbers break down into: (1) They didn't ask the question in China, (2) They asked somebody if they paid a bribe or if taking a bribe is every justifiable, and (3) "Expert estimates of the extent to which the executive, legislative, judiciary, and bureaucracy engage in bribery and theft, and the making and implementation of laws are susceptible to corruption"

For (2) China doesn't look too different from the U.S., for (3) experts think it has gotten much worse since the time of Mao but I'd say China is on the honest side of the "global South".

Note that lay perceptions of corruption are widespread in the US

https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/51398-most-americans-see-c...

https://news.gallup.com/poll/185759/widespread-government-co...

https://www.occrp.org/en/news/survey-reveals-corruption-as-t...

though unlike India I think very few Americans have paid a bribe to a cop. See also

https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2026/03/05/in-25-countr...

> though unlike India I think very few Americans have paid a bribe to a cop.

No one, left or right, thinks there is street level corruption. Not the kind accessible to someone in a traffic stop. I have experienced it in Mexico and think that kind of corruption would still be worse because I cannot imagine how to recover from it. I have hope that a few high profile arrests of c level fall his may turn the tide. If not then there are extrajudicial methods open to American culture.

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Wow Americans really dislike Americans! (Pew link)
How do you see Xi's anticorruption campaign? Is it just a club to beat political opponents with, or is there a real problem and he's trying to fix it?
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