研究表明数百万亚洲人曾在公共服务中行贿

 

A study released this week shows corruption¹ remains² a big issue in East Asia.

The group Transparency International spoke³ with more than 20,000 people about their recent experiences with corruption in 16 Asian and Pacific countries.

The study finds that about 900 million people in 16 Asia-Pacific countries have made an illegal payment to a government official to receive services.

The group talked to 22,000 people between July 2015 and January 2017. About a third of those asked said they had paid a bribe⁴ in the last year.

The study found that police are the most likely officials to demand an illegal payment.

About 20 percent of those asked said they believed corruption had lessened⁵. Forty percent said they believed it had worsened.

In China, almost three-quarters of those asked said corruption had worsened since the last Transparency International report on corruption in the Asia-Pacific was released in 2013.

Rukshana Nanayakkara works for the group in Singapore. He spoke to VOA this week about the report.

“A lot of people still don’t trust their government when it comes to fighting corruption.”

Nanayakkara says people in seven countries pay the most bribes⁶.

“India, Vietnam, Pakistan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia and China as well have very high bribe-paying rates.”

Of those seven countries, he says one is clearly the worst.

“India and their government -- again, which came (into office) on an anti-corruption platform -- is doing very, very poorly in their fight against corruption. More than 65 percent of the people in India have to pay bribes in accessing public services. Anybody who lives in India wouldn’t take it as a surprise -- it’s a day-to-day reality of a lot of people. This is the same problem in Vietnam.”

Nanayakkara says the study found that some nations, including Australia, do not have a corruption problem.

“Japan, South Korea and Thailand -- they all have (a) very low bribe-paying culture in the countries.”

The group says corruption lessens⁷ the amount of food that people eat and prevents people from getting educated and receiving health care. It called on governments preparing their U.N. Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 to include anti-corruption targets along with a reduction in poverty and hunger and improvements in education and health care.

Words in This Story

bribe – n. something valuable (such as money) that is given in order to get someone to do something

platform – n. the official beliefs and goals of a political party or candidate

access – v. to be able to use, enter or get near (something)

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 bribe   

n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通

参考例句：

• He tried to bribe the policeman not to arrest him.他企图贿赂警察不逮捕他。
• He resolutely refused their bribe.他坚决不接受他们的贿赂。

5 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

6 bribes   

n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• corrupt officials accepting bribes 接受贿赂的贪官污吏

7 lessens   

变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物）

参考例句：

• Eating a good diet significantly lessens the risk of heart disease. 良好的饮食习惯能大大减少患心脏病的机率。
• Alcohol lessens resistance to diseases. 含有酒精的饮料会减弱对疾病的抵抗力。