(PB) >>23450466 WSJ reports Liu Jianchao, a top Chinese diplomat and future Foreign Minister, has been detained

>Unlike the West, which protects its corrupt elites, Russia and China purge theirs to protect the state

There is a another difference as well at least with regards to China v. US:

In the US we have a cultural bias against corruption. Corruption is actually built into Chinese culture.

In more general terms the more recently a country has risen out of third world status the more corruption is embedded in the culture.

A certain level of corruption is also embedded in European culture but there it is tied more closely to the fact they have clung to feudalism so long, so in Europe it is seen as a function of status rather than actual corruption. That is one of the major breaks the US revolution made with Europe, we sent our administrative caste packing and they have been diligently working to get back in ever since. We are about to evict them again.