The World - News from Jan. 24, 1989

Government corruption in China is at its worst level in 40 years, one of the country’s prominent Communists said. Su Shaozhi, 66, former head of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-tung Thought at the elite China Academy of Social Sciences, said corruption permeates all levels of government. He said the problem has increased since 1985, due to the increasing decentralization of the economy and a “double track” system in which there are two prices for the same commodity--a low state price and a much-higher free-market price. Su lost his post as head of the institute in a recent ideological campaign, but he remains a professor at the academy.