According to the participants, Guanxi can reduce the risks of corruption via three dimensions for civil servants in the public sector. At first, Guanxi can avoid potential exposure before corruption takes place. Then, Guanxi can conceal corruption after the activities have happened. Also, Guanxi can save the parties when corruption has been uncovered.
Participant 07 pointed out that Guanxi can be an effective indicator for identifying potential corruption partners prior to the corruption in order to minimise the possibility of exposure as the trust within good Guanxi relationships. The most significant worry for corrupt civil servants is being uncovered, they are therefore most likely to seek secure partners to proceed with corruption:
“Corrupt officials look for potential partners depending on Guanxi before they conduct corrupt activities. This is because good Guanxi means the partners can be fully trusted, that would not betray the officials. Typically, corruption participants apply this way to reduce potential risk.” (Participant 07).
Basically, Guanxi can be used for seeking such partners, because establishing Guanxi needs time, having good Guanxi thus means a stable trust can be expected between the parties. Hence, corrupt civil servants apply Guanxi to judge potential partners, to ensure their reliability, to exclude unreliable ones and eventually to reduce the risk of corruption.
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Similarly, Guanxi can be applied by bribery-takers for self-preservation before they decide to accept bribery or not (participant 11), because corruption is a type of high-risk behaviour, so avoiding exposure is probably always the top priority for the participants:
“You cannot simply bribe when you want to, you must have Guanxi first. The bribe-takers are unable to trust you due to the risk unless you have good Guanxi with them. They use Guanxi to investigate if you are trustworthy, corruption activities can only be carried out under the premise of mutual trust.” (Participant 11).
Indeed, good Guanxi is usually formed on the basis of mutual understanding and confidence, which may take a long time. Hence, having Guanxi is an effective signal for potential corrupt civil servants to ensure the person they are collaborating with is trustworthy. As a result, corruption risk can be prevented, and the parties involved can be protected from the early stage of corruption.
In addition, corruption behaviours can be concealed by Guanxi after it happens. Normally, a good Guanxi emerges from the parties’ common hobbies and interests, they usually spend a long time getting to know each other and then building Guanxi on the base of mutual trust. The parties therefore have closer and more stable relationships, that enables them to help and provide favours to the other side, in most cases:
“If we have a good Guanxi, we can always help and take care of each other. If our Guanxi is corrupt, the relationship is even closer and more stable. Unethical behaviours between us are safe and being concealed as we are all engaged, betraying you means betraying myself.” (Participant 25).
Based on this, in a corrupt Guanxi relationship, the parties are more likely to offer mutual support to each other because they are a kind of community which supports itself in its engagement with corruption. They may not only provide mutual helps and favours but also conceal the other’s corruption activities as far as possible when necessary, because they cannot suffer the consequence of any party’s exposure.
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Analogously, as participant 29 said, a Guanxi party’s behaviours would be covered by the others, even though unethical activities could be involved, because they are friends:
“I would cover your back unconditionally if there is a good Guanxi between us, even though you stepped over ‘red line’. At least, I would not report your behaviours. This is because we are friends, I know you would do the same if you are in my position.” (Participant 29).
Although some civil servants may hold an ethical bottom line that means they refuse to actively conceal the corruption behaviours of those who have Guanxi with them, they probably at least keep silent while deciding to report or to neglect the behaviours. In other words, when corruption is uncovered, Guanxi can be used to conceal it.
Moreover, Guanxi can preserve the parties when corruption has been uncovered. In terms of the civil servants who are involved in corruption, Guanxi is probably the last piece of insurance. If they have good Guanxi with the others such as colleagues and superiors, those in power could offer help when corrupt civil servants are in trouble:
“For example, a director of the city’s funeral department was arrested for corruption. This person certainly gained millions of benefits, but the court only judged the penalty of 700K, which is because the director knows someone up there.” (Participant 08).
Therefore, after the exposure of corruption, Guanxi can be a protective umbrella to effectively reduce the punishment of corruption, that is to preserve the participants.
To sum up, Guanxi is an effective way to reduce the risks of engaging in corruption activities. Before corruption, it can identify reliable corruption partners, which may minimise the exposure risks of corruption. Then, the close and tight community generated by Guanxi can conceal corrupt behaviours after corruption. Lastly, once corruption is exposed, Guanxi can save those participants involved.
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