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The latest proposal would raise the pay of the city’s chief executive (its top political post) to a comfortable US$620,843 per year, a spokesman for the city’s constitutional and mainland affairs bureau said. Such a figure is dwarfed by salaries in Singapore, where the prime minister pulls down an annual US$1.7 million salary, but still easily outstrips the US$400,000 Barack Obama makes as U.S.president, as well as the comparatively low official salaries of top Chinese leaders—a factor analysts say partially helps fuels corruption in China. (Chinese ministers reportedly earn some US$22,000 a year.)
Analysts say high official salaries help Hong Kong preserve its reputation for clean government, by reducing the temptation to accept bribes or other perks. But recent scandals over reports of pleasure trips with tycoons that have dogged the city’s leader, Donald Tsang, as well as the arrest on suspicion of bribery of the city’s onetime no. two official, Rafael Hui, have shown that “giving high pay to fight corruption is not really working,” Mr. Lee argues.
- http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/16/hong-kong-chief-executive’s-proposed-salary-us620843/
Analysts say high official salaries help Hong Kong preserve its reputation for clean government, by reducing the temptation to accept bribes or other perks. But recent scandals over reports of pleasure trips with tycoons that have dogged the city’s leader, Donald Tsang, as well as the arrest on suspicion of bribery of the city’s onetime no. two official, Rafael Hui, have shown that “giving high pay to fight corruption is not really working,” Mr. Lee argues.
- http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/16/hong-kong-chief-executive’s-proposed-salary-us620843/
