Berlin-based Transparency International launched its 2014 Corruption Perceptions Index on Wednesday, ranking China 100th among 175 countries and regions, a sharp drop of 20 places from last year.

This new ranking must have shocked Chinese society, and raised doubts about the report's credibility among the Chinese people.

This is because the ranking and Chinese people's sense of the anti-corruption campaign are widely divergent. The campaign has had profound impacts on Chinese society. The achievements it has made so far have even impressed the international community.

The index, issued by Transparency International on a yearly basis, had been given some credence in China up till now. But its credibility has plunged in Chinese public opinion with China's rapid drop on the index.

The 20-place fall in ranking, which does not in the slightest reflect how terrified China's corrupt officials are due to the anti-graft campaign, is barefaced mendacity.

In a response to the inquiry from the Global Times, the organization said the ranking was based on 13 independent sources, two of which gave very negative ratings to China. Painting itself as objective and transparent, Transparency International did not suspect why these two sources had made such dramatic adjustments, and the organization didn't even bother to do some field research by itself.

Having about 20 years of experience in researching global corruption problems, Transparency International has greatly reduced its credibility by giving this incredibly irresponsible ranking, which was made through questionable working methods.

China and the Western world are known to be widely different in terms of values and ways of thinking. Each side might have diverse perceptions on the same thing, but facts shouldn't be ignored or even distorted. This is common sense.

Prejudice from the West leads it to misunderstand and misjudge what is happening in China. But it is still beyond our imagination that Transparency International can view China's anti-corruption efforts from the opposite side. They also refuse to consider the possibility that they are wrong about this.

Transparency International represents a group of Western non-governmental organizations, which abuse their international influence and stubbornly hold prejudices against China.

China is a hot topic in the Western world. But we don't know how many organizations like Transparency International are releasing misleading information to the world, which Chinese people could be privy to.

This ranking is not a big deal to China, and China's consistent efforts to fight corruption are to create a better society, not to have a good name among the international community. But we need to reconsider whether many Western organizations, given Transparency International's clumsy mistake, deserve our trust or not. 

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