HK rises in global ranking as corruption remains uncommon
2018-2-22
Hong Kong was ranked the 13th least corrupt place among 180 countries/territories in the latest survey by international anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI), two places up from previous year’s ranking, and which coincided with the ICAC’s latest opinion survey in which a vast majority of citizens polled said they had not personally encountered corruption in the past 12 months.
In the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by TI today (February 22), Hong Kong’s score remained the same as last year’s 77.
An ICAC spokesperson welcomed the TI survey result which further affirmed that the culture of probity was deeply rooted in the community.
The CPI is a poll of polls based on 13 international/regional opinion surveys, which reflects the perceptions of respondents in a particular country or territory. In assessing Hong Kong’s situation, the index makes reference to seven of those surveys.
While the CPI survey reflected respondents’ perceptions, the ICAC’s annual opinion survey assessed respondents’ personal experience and would shed light on the city’s actual probity situation.
According to the 2017 ICAC Annual Survey, 99.1 per cent of the people polled said they had not personally come across corruption in the past 12 months, while only 0.6 per cent, or eight respondents, said they did.
The survey also revealed that the community was highly intolerant of corruption. On a scale of 0-10, of which 0 representing total rejection and 10 for total tolerance of corruption, a mean score of 0.6, the lowest since the question was first raised in 2010, was registered.
“According to ICAC’s analysis, corruption in Hong Kong remains well under control. The Commission will continue to pursue all corruption cases without fear or favour and in accordance with the law, so as to safeguard Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the cleanest places around the world,” said the spokesperson.
Through face-to-face household interviews of 1,516 randomly selected citizens, the survey was conducted by an independent research agency between May and August in 2017 to gauge the public’s attitude towards corruption and their views on the ICAC’s work.
Consistent with findings in previous years, the survey showed that almost all respondents or 99.2 per cent of them considered keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong. They believed that a clean society would help uphold fairness and justice; attract foreign investments; and facilitate sustainable development of the society.
An overwhelming majority, i.e. 96.8 per cent of the respondents said the ICAC deserved their support as the anti-corruption agency was able to maintain a corruption-free society, uphold fairness and justice and successfully cracked corruption cases. Meanwhile, 78.8 per cent considered ICAC’s anti-corruption work as very effective or effective, which was similar to findings in recent years.
The survey also found that the majority or 78.0 per cent of the respondents indicated that they would report corruption to the ICAC should they come across it, similar to that of previous years.
“Under the multi-year All for Integrity territory-wide programme, the ICAC has strived to engage citizens from different strata of the community to further strengthen Hong Kong’s probity culture, foster positive values and consolidate public support for the ICAC’s work,” the spokesperson added.
Looking ahead, the ICAC is determined to fight corruption with every generation. The Commission will continue to promote the “don’t bribe” and “report corruption” messages in different sectors of the community, in particular young people, and will continue to provide preventive services to both the public and private sectors. The two-year “Youth Integrity Fest” programme will be launched in full gear in the coming months and the Commission will also leverage on new and social media to reach young people and the wider community.
In the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released by TI today (February 22), Hong Kong’s score remained the same as last year’s 77.
An ICAC spokesperson welcomed the TI survey result which further affirmed that the culture of probity was deeply rooted in the community.
The CPI is a poll of polls based on 13 international/regional opinion surveys, which reflects the perceptions of respondents in a particular country or territory. In assessing Hong Kong’s situation, the index makes reference to seven of those surveys.
While the CPI survey reflected respondents’ perceptions, the ICAC’s annual opinion survey assessed respondents’ personal experience and would shed light on the city’s actual probity situation.
According to the 2017 ICAC Annual Survey, 99.1 per cent of the people polled said they had not personally come across corruption in the past 12 months, while only 0.6 per cent, or eight respondents, said they did.
The survey also revealed that the community was highly intolerant of corruption. On a scale of 0-10, of which 0 representing total rejection and 10 for total tolerance of corruption, a mean score of 0.6, the lowest since the question was first raised in 2010, was registered.
“According to ICAC’s analysis, corruption in Hong Kong remains well under control. The Commission will continue to pursue all corruption cases without fear or favour and in accordance with the law, so as to safeguard Hong Kong’s reputation as one of the cleanest places around the world,” said the spokesperson.
Through face-to-face household interviews of 1,516 randomly selected citizens, the survey was conducted by an independent research agency between May and August in 2017 to gauge the public’s attitude towards corruption and their views on the ICAC’s work.
Consistent with findings in previous years, the survey showed that almost all respondents or 99.2 per cent of them considered keeping Hong Kong corruption-free was important to the overall development of Hong Kong. They believed that a clean society would help uphold fairness and justice; attract foreign investments; and facilitate sustainable development of the society.
An overwhelming majority, i.e. 96.8 per cent of the respondents said the ICAC deserved their support as the anti-corruption agency was able to maintain a corruption-free society, uphold fairness and justice and successfully cracked corruption cases. Meanwhile, 78.8 per cent considered ICAC’s anti-corruption work as very effective or effective, which was similar to findings in recent years.
The survey also found that the majority or 78.0 per cent of the respondents indicated that they would report corruption to the ICAC should they come across it, similar to that of previous years.
“Under the multi-year All for Integrity territory-wide programme, the ICAC has strived to engage citizens from different strata of the community to further strengthen Hong Kong’s probity culture, foster positive values and consolidate public support for the ICAC’s work,” the spokesperson added.
Looking ahead, the ICAC is determined to fight corruption with every generation. The Commission will continue to promote the “don’t bribe” and “report corruption” messages in different sectors of the community, in particular young people, and will continue to provide preventive services to both the public and private sectors. The two-year “Youth Integrity Fest” programme will be launched in full gear in the coming months and the Commission will also leverage on new and social media to reach young people and the wider community.