PLA Lieutenant Colonel Speaks Up about Corruption
Voices of the People (1/25/00)
Jill Ku (Gu Jirou, GJ): Hello, how are you? What is your family name?
Caller: I am from the army. I don’t really want to tell you my family name.
GJ: That is quite fine. So, what do you want to talk about?
Caller: Things related to the army.
GJ: Good. So, do you serve in the army?
Caller: Yes, I am in the military. I am a Lieutenant Colonel.
GJ: Can you tell us what kind of work you do?
Caller: I am a technician.
GJ: Can you tell us about your military situation?
Caller: I cannot tell you my military situation because my work unit is a secret unit.
GJ: That is O.K. So, do you listen to RFA program in the army?
Caller: I do sometimes.
GJ: Are there many people in the army who listen to our programs? What do they think about them?
Caller: I think that RFA tells the truth and the programs are interesting. The issues that you talk about are real events. No matter it is Chinese military or Chinese media, eight out of ten words they speak are false. So, I feel that what RFA said is relatively real. So, whenever I have the chance, I listen to RFA.
GJ: That is great. I also hope that you can bring our news to the army.
Caller: We think that the overall treatment of the army’s technical personnel is not so good. Compared to what the administrative staff has, the difference is pretty big. We are often worried about our future. I am always worried about this.
GJ: What is the difference in treatment or pay between the technical staff and administration staff?
Caller: Well, technical staff only get their salary, no extras. It is different for administrative staff. It is very fixable for them. They have a lot of extra incomes.
GJ: Those extra incomes probably are not legitimate incomes, right?
Caller: That is exactly right. Because it is illegitimate, there is not a limit on that income. Sometimes we feel off balance, but can’t do anything about it.
GJ: Does this mean that there is discipline problem in the army?
Caller: Well, the army’s discipline is not that good now. It is not as formal as before.
GJ: Can you describe it a little more for us? We often hear people criticizing the corruption in the army. A few army callers talked about bad behaviors inside the army on the show not long ago. Can you tell us a little bit about this too?
Caller: People in the army are quite corrupted. Corruption is in every corner of the society in China. The army is no exception, just like the rest of the society.
GJ: Since the army controls some resources and funds, the situation might be even worse, right?
Caller: You are right. But the official media never reported about the corruption in the army. In fact, the army is just like the rest of the society.
GJ: Being a lieutenant, which is not a low position in the army, what are you thoughts?
Caller: Helpless. Technical staffs have no real power except to work on technical issues. We really can’t help it no matter how mad we get.
GJ: Does this kind of situation affect the morale in the army?
Caller: Of course. Many people are upset but don’t dare to speak out. You know that when you work for other people, you don’t want to offend them. If you offend those administrative people, they will make things hard for you by abusing their power.
GJ: You just said that the army is quite corrupted. Could you give us some examples to help us understanding the extent of the corruption? For example, could you tell us what did they do exactly?
Caller: Well, they are taking the wealth away from the government. They are using every possible means to cheat the government. For example, they say that they will do a project and ask the government to give them money. They would make up the amount of the money they needed and ask for that amount. Maybe a project only requires 100,000 yuan, but they would end up asking for 1,000,000 from the government by making up pretended expenditures. So the money that is not used all goes into their own pockets.
GJ: Other then the corruption, what is army’s ideological status? How many people want to have democracy and freedom?
Caller: Many people yearn for democracy and freedom.
GJ: What do people think about China’s current political situation?
Caller: People feel helpless.
GJ: When the new instructions from the central government come, soldiers have to follow that instruction. What do they think about that?
Caller: It is our duty to defend the country, there is no question about that. Being a soldier, we will step forward bravely. But sometime the leaders don’t really give us a lot of information and it is not good for us to ask too many questions either. We just do what they tell us to do, right?
GJ: What do soldiers think about the June 4th Movement in 1989 when they had to do what they were told?
Caller: The place I am at is a purely technical work unit. We are not the regular army. So I don’t really know much about that situation. I didn’t hear much about that at all.
GJ: But, if this movement happens again and your section is asked to go to suppress the movement, what would you do?
Caller: I think that we still have to go even if we don’t want to.
GJ: But you won’t be happy inside, right?
Caller: But we still have to go.
GJ: Because you are a soldier, right?
Caller: Yes. I have another friend who also want to talk to you.
GJ: O.K.
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