Abstract

Corruption is a universal phenomenon and no society is devoid of it. Although the world is not short of ideas on how to tackle corruption, the Hong Kong experience is frequently quoted as an epitome of success. Anti-corruption efforts have succeeded in Hong Kong because of the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”) in 1974. Over the past 40 years, the ICAC has devoted itself to anti-corruption work, turning a pervasively corrupted place to one of the most corruption-free places in the world, and successfully upheld Hong Kong’s core values of fairness and probity. ICAC’s success is attributed to indispensable factors which can be interestingly summed up in the acronym – ICAC, where I stands for independent status, C for comprehensive and long-term strategy, A for adequate resources, and C for community support.


I. Introduction

Hong Kong suffered from pervasive corruption in the 1960s and 1970s. Bribery was regarded as a necessary evil and a way to get things done. The timely establishment and effectiveness of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”) in 1974 contributed significantly to the development of “clean government” and, as a result, Hong Kong has changed from a place where corruption was once a way of life and penetrated almost every thread of society to one of the most corruption-free places in the world. Hong Kong has achieved spectacular success in overcoming flagrant corruption. In recent years, Hong Kong has consistently been rated as one of the least corrupt territories in the world on the Corruption Perceptions Index.

This paper aims at summarizing the Hong Kong experience in combating corruption, particularly efforts of the ICAC and the factors contributing to its success. While the corruption problems in other parts of the world may be different, it is believed that many corruption problems stem from common causes and may be eradicated by similar approaches.