(Lanka-e-News 28.Sep.2015, 8.30PM) A prominent businessman of Sri Lanka, who is on a tour of China phoned Lanka e news a few days ago from China. Being accustomed to providing information about the situation in the country to Lanka e news during the Rajapakse era when he fled the country in fear for his life , still phones us when he is out of the country. He informed us that on the day he stepped into China , a popular human rights lawyer in that country was taken into custody on charges of treason against the government, while also stating how much better and advanced is Sri Lanka (SL) in contradistinction now after the recent elections.
This above report we rae compelled to post after reading the communique issued by the P.M.’s media division yesterday. This communique came on the heels of a tour of China concluded by Saman Athaudahetti , the additional secretary to the P.M. This is how it begins……
''The Chinese communist party that extolled the measures taken by the SL’s new government against corruption expressed its fullest support and stated it is ready to contribute towards the anti corruption drive. This wholehearted support was conveyed by deputy minister Cheng Fengxiang of the communist party international department during a discussion held with the delegation to China led by the additional secretary to the SL P.M.
Following a request made by Athaudahetti , China agreed to provide special training to SL’s top officials involved in the anti corruption drive . The SL delegation too praised the measures taken by the Chinese president Xi Jinping against corruption , and the plans associated with it were discussed at length and views exchanged between the two countries'' (communique ends thus).
So , based on this communique , SL is now going to get training from China to stamp out corruption . Interestingly however , the Transparency international, an international organization has classified SL and China as regards corruption in its world rating during the years 2013 and 2014 as follows :
In 2013, among the 175 corrupt countries in the world , SL occupied the 91 st slot which in 2014 turned better with the country climbing to the 85 th slot, while China that was occupying the 80 th slot fell to the 100 th position in 2014.
Though the 2015 index is still not out , in the final rankings in 2014, the 15 countries at the top with minimum corruption are as follows :
Denmark
New Zealand
Finland
Sweden
Norway
Switzerland
Singapore
Netherlands
Luxemburg
Canada
Australia
Germany
Iceland
England
Belgium
When this is the true picture regarding corruption world over, should SL get special training to develop ourselves from a country like China which is even below us at 100 th position pertaining to corruption at its worst, or from one of the 15 countries named above ?
Surely shouldn’t we seek training from a country like Singapore in 7 th position the closest to us in the zone, among the above named 15 countries ? Besides , there are 5 countries among these 15 countries where English is spoken , a language Sri Lankan is familiar with more than Chinese language.
Of course we are indebted to China which we rae bound to pay back over many generations to come. Yet , in a country like China where even a human rights lawyer is considered as an enemy of the State , certainly there is no special training that can be gained on eradication of corruption from such a country. Even a Kindergarten child will understand this . One need not be a top official of a top ministry to know this. This is like seeking tuition from a notorious failed tuition master. However , let us not say , there is no other special knowledge that can be acquired from China.
Let us hope the additional secretary to the P.M. lets loose his hair , then , after combing it neatly , will sit and relax to think sanely and sensibly. Perhaps, he will at least then be able to think more intelligently . There can be no progress achieved if the government of good governance is to toe the same line of the brutal people discarded Rajapakses, after displacing them pinpointing all their crimes, corruption and crookedness, however true they are.
(In the photograph herein is Saman Athaudahetti and Cheng FengXiang during discussions at Chinese communist party international department headquarters , Beijing)
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by (2015-09-28 15:44:26)
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If China is known to sell contraband goods from Keloggs cornflakes to Ferrari sports cars -thank God, they do not export papadam- why can't they sell anti-corruption law packages to Sri Lanka? Mara's podiputha,"syntheti" Namal, for example, would be lovin' it better than MacDonalds' hamburgers -also contraband if made in China
-- by K. Laduhwtty on 2015-09-30