This chapter traces the defects of the Chinese corporate-political ecosystem to a combination of lingering Maoist/Communist political practices and a short-term capitalist profit-maximizing mindset that was introduced during the Reform period. The chapter shows the devastating impact of this contradictory ideology on the environment, which has only worsened over the past three decades of reform due to self-interested alliances among local government officials, state-owned enterprises, and private corporations placing economic development and profit-making over the health of their surrounding citizens and natural environment. The result has been a massive ecological and public health crisis and increasing social tensions that threaten the Chinese Communist Party's hold on power.