Transparency International’s latest corruption report is sober reading for Asian leaders committed to ending dirty dealings in the world’s fastest-growing region.
Dec. 9 was International Anti-Corruption Day, and Asia’s report card was a big disappointment.China (SHCOMP), Japan and South Korea, three of Asia’s four biggest economies, all lost ground. So did such emerging-market darlings as Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Even Hong Kong, routinely celebrated as a model of economic freedom, slid two places in the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index to 14th among 176 nations.
looking beyond borders 