the American concept of corruption is so endemic to him the Chinese system works it's not even really considered corruption there it's just how things work there. it's part of a formal business meeting to give gifts in exchange for favors

There is a difference between giving a gift, even a lavish gift, and trading public services directly for private gain. This isn’t an American or Chinese view. When these arrangements become public, Weibo goes wild and Beijing is incentivised to respond.

That's a bit hyperbolic. Corruption is illegal there, too. Nobody there cares much until you step on the wrong toes, then you are in serious trouble. It's a case of rule of law vs rule by law.

Westerners who travel abroad on behalf of corporations are trained on this religiously. It’s considered corruption on home turf, and entertaining it can come back on a company quite hard both domestically and internationally, particularly when a government official is involved.

“But $trainer, you mean I really have to report the $80 dinner I was treated to in Shanghai?” You bet. If you operate a startup that does deals internationally and aren’t training your team from a risk management standpoint, the legal downside is huge if a government decides to look at you. Start with the Bribery Act of 2010, the FCPA, and so on.

Agreed. FCPA is ruthlessly enforced. And for good reason.

> Or where they can split the gains with a corrupt official in exchange for free power...

Has this happened before? It sounds bizarre and Googling gave me nothing.

It happens with streetlights in Belgium: https://nytimes.com/2017/12/12/world/europe/belgium-electric...

“Streetlight consumption translates into profits for electricity producers, distributors and the state, he said. The profits of electricity distribution companies are paid out ‘in dividends to the local municipalities that own shares in them, and in salaries and stipends to the local politicians who sit on their oversight boards,’ he explained.“

Well, there are things like the US prison system, US telecommunications, US military industry, etc., etc., that would give you lots of good results.

In China, everything has a price...

Every country has corruption, both illegal and legal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatocracy

The bottom 150-160 countries in terms of corruption are extraordinarily corrupt compared to the top few dozen that are the least corrupt. The gap between New Zealand or Denmark, two of the least corrupt nations, and Croatia or Hungary, is night and day.

There is a dramatic acceleration of corruption after you get outside of that general top 30-40 group. Your statement is an equivocation, when in actuality the level of corruption often varies dramatically from nation to nation. Saying every country has corruption is meaningless as such.

https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_percept...

Hello poster, it would help to add to your comment. Without additional detail it seems like whataboutism.