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China, Vietnam seen as more corrupt while Indonesia, Philippines clean up their act: Transparency International report
- The watchdog’s annual index on perceptions of corruption sees China’s ranking fall for the first time in five years
- The US drops out of the top 20 as its system of checks and balances faces threats from the Trump administration
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China’s rating on perceived corruption has fallen for the first time in five years, pushing it down 10 places to 87 on an annual index by global watchdog Transparency International.
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Singapore moved up three spots on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) to third place, behind first-placed Denmark and New Zealand in second. The higher a country’s position on the list of 180 countries, the less they are seen to be corrupt by the international community.
The United States also fell, from 16th to 22nd position, tumbling out of the top 20 for the first time in recent years.
Hong Kong and Japan appeared in the top 20 of the index, which was released on Tuesday.
It gave the Asia-Pacific an average score of 44 out of 100 in the region’s ongoing bid to stamp out corruption – far behind the European Union’s 66, but higher than eastern Europe and Central Asia.
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“The Asia-Pacific region is stagnating in the fight against corruption. A lack of progress is unsurprising given the prevalence of weak democratic institutions and a lack of laws and enforcement mechanisms,” said Transparency International in the report.
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