Chinese tourists should have enough courage to stand up to bribery

By Yu Jincui Source:Global Times Published: 2013-9-1 21:18:01

The plane I took reached the Siem Reap International Airport in a squall of rain. When hundreds of Chinese visitors hurried into the arrival hall of the airport, the immigration officers waved their hands with a big smile, competing for us to go through the entry formalities at their own counter. But we soon discovered that this wasn't done out of hospitality, but a trick to solicit more tips or bribes, a worse way than the weather to ruin your holiday's start.

In fact, I was mentally prepared for this suffering, as a friend who went to Cambodia two years ago kindly warned me that I'd better put a 10-yuan ($1.63) note in the passport for a hassle-free immigration process before I left for the country. But I didn't want to fuel corruption.

Visitors automatically lined up for a passport check. After I gave all the required documents to the immigration officer, including the passport, an arrival card and departure card, he quickly flipped through the passport, and then repeatedly asked for qian (money) with accurate Putonghua pronunciation.

I pretended not to understand what he meant. But he didn't give up. He picked a 10-yuan note out of a pile of one-dollar and 10-yuan notes on his counter, waving it in my face. When he saw I still had no plans to open my purse, he threw back the passport at me, grumbling in mixed Chinese, English and Mon-Khmer. Finally, he said with venom "No qian, no way."

He then smiled at the visitor behind me. Unexpectedly, instead of backing me, my compatriot rushed to attend to his entry formalities, leaving me frozen there awkwardly.

The immigration officer finished the immigration procedure just in several seconds since there was a 10-yuan note in the passport. "Give him 10 yuan, it's only a little money," my countryman kindly advised before he left.

I looked around, nearly all of the Chinese comers handed over the "tips" obediently, with some even actively offering 20 yuan.

I searched online later. The solicitation of bribes has prevailed for many years. On some Cambodian tourism forums, many Chinese complained about being asked for a bribe by customs officers but only a few Westerners had had the same experience.

Ridiculously, most Chinese complainers advised the latecomers to follow the unspoken rule in order to avoid trouble. In sharp contrast, a small group of Western visitors, who were unlucky enough to be asked for a bribe, said they decisively refused to pay.

That's the main reason why the officers have come to mainly target Chinese now. It's the Chinese visitors themselves that breed and fuel such malpractice.

China has a close relationship with Cambodia. It's the third-largest source of tourists to Cambodia, which saw a 35 percent increase in the number of Chinese tourists in 2012, attracting a total of 333,900. There are also an increasing number of Chinese businessmen and enterprises entering Cambodia for business opportunities as well as helping promote the country's development.

During my stay in Cambodia, some Cambodian people told me that they envy China's rapid development in recent years, and are unhappy with their low salary and poverty. The customs officials of Cambodia are certainly poorly paid. However, this shouldn't be used as the excuse for Chinese to financially help them through daily bribes.

The 2012 Corruption Perception Index listed Cambodia as "highly corrupt," putting it at 157 out of 176 countries. China is not able to help change the corruption in Cambodia. However, with complaints that the arrival of Chinese firms is fueling corruption and poor governance in some small Southeast Asian countries and African countries, shouldn't the Chinese pay more attention to the changes they may cause to the local society, work and values?   

I didn't pay the "tip" in the end, as I insisted on not paying and threatened to lodge a complaint over the immigration officer. I sincerely hope other Chinese visitors do the same.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. yujincui@globaltimes.com.cn  



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