China economist unfit for World Bank post

By FANG JUE
February 26, 2008

NEW YORK, N.Y.,United States, The World Bank has named Chinese economist Justin Yifu Lin its senior vice president and chief economist. This has excited and delighted many Chinese, but I personally consider it inappropriate. The appointment was made earlier this month and Lin will officially take up the post at the end of May.

Lin currently belongs to a think tank that advises the Chinese government in a critical sector, the economy. He is also the founder and director of the China Center for Economic Research and a professor of economics at Beijing University.

Lin has tried to keep a low profile regarding his background -- he held a Republic of China passport until May 1979, when he was 27 years old and serving as an up-and-coming captain in the Taiwanese army. In that month he swam to mainland China, betraying the army and government in Taiwan. He changed his name and obtained citizenship in mainland China.

There has been much discussion as to why the World Bank chose Lin for this position. Personally, I don't think Lin deserves to lead the World Bank, for the following reasons:

China does not contribute capital to the World Bank, despite the fact that China has become the third largest economy in the world. Furthermore, China is still benefitting from low-interest loans and endowments from the World Bank. This kind of unreasonable continuous aid to China has aroused a lot of criticism among developed and developing countries. Then, why would the World Bank once again behave unfairly in appointing a senior vice president from China?

The World Bank indicated it selected Lin because he is an expert in China's economic development. Nevertheless, China's economic development in the past 30 years should not be regarded as a model for the bank to be appreciated and imitated by other developing countries.

The priority objective behind China's economic development is to ensure the continuation of its communist political system and prevent its transformation to democracy. China's economic development has not built a real free market economy, but an economic system controlled by the government, based on collusion between officials and businessmen, on common corruption and ruthless exploitation.

Also, China's economic development has been utilized by the Chinese Communist Party to expand its military without restraint, to contest for hegemony in Asia and to augment its global strategic influence.

This is why the China development model is not a good one; it is opposite to the worldwide trend toward free democracy after the Cold War, and it is not in step with global stability. Therefore, an "expert" raised within and advocating such a "model" is not a proper choice to serve as chief economist of the World Bank.

In the light of professional standards, Lin is not qualified for this post. China's level in the field of economics is still quite low; there are no Chinese economists at the top of the international economics field, and Lin is no exception.

The rural reforms that Lin is credited with helping to implement are very shallow. They include basic concepts, like a contract system with pay linked to output. Moreover, the economic analysis of China he was later engaged in was in fact very vague and lacked specifics, due to his lack of practical experience.

Lin's views on the world economy remain at the elementary school level. Those who do not view Lin as a major and outstanding economist in China are not few. Allowing such an unqualified person to take responsibility as chief economist at the World Bank is irresponsible and diminishes the credibility of the United Nations, which oversees the bank.

Finally, it is ridiculous for the World Bank, which is not privately operated and receives capital from many democratic countries, to choose a person like Lin, who defected to mainland China in 1979 at the peak of the Cold War, from Taiwan, which was in the democratic camp and has been fighting against Chinese communism.

Lin left the army, his whole family and the government that valued him as an army officer and swam to China in the night, bringing with him secret defense documents. Lin's desertion was not only completely wrong in terms of political orientation, violating the law and discipline of the army, but also morally selfish and despicable. Is not his appointment a mockery to democratic governments and countries and an irony to the principle of rule by law?

Some major international organizations and institutions seem to fawn on the rising communist China in recent years, and are intentionally giving leadership roles to Chinese personnel. This approach will also expand the influence of communist China in international affairs, however.
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(Fang Jue is a political activist and freelance writer living in the United States. He was a former government official in China and worked at the Politics Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was a visiting scholar at the Fairbanks Center for East Asian Research at Harvard University in 2003. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online; the original can be found at www.ncn.org. ©Copyright Fang Jue.)

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