China's exposure of official scandals is rare

China's exposure of official scandals is rare Corrupt officials in Beijing have purchased large numbers of luxury homes, including a Swiss luxury watch worth US$30,000 (approximately 187,000 RMB), or...

Corrupt officials in Beijing have purchased a large number of luxury properties, including a Swiss luxury watch worth US$30,000 (approximately 187,000 RMB), or used enough ill-gotten gains to buy a Porsche for their mistresses. Chinese people have become accustomed to stories like this.

However, when a video of a chubby Communist Party official in southwestern China having sex with an 18-year-old woman spread online late last month, even the most dismissive of such incidents took notice. Local Communist Party watchdogs also took notice and removed the official.

This is an especially difficult time for Chinese officials who engage in fraud, theft and bribery. Since local official Lei Zhengfu was forced into fame, a string of other officials have been exposed. Although they often voiced claims of wrongdoing, most of them have been removed from office while party investigators raided their bedrooms and bank accounts.

In the weeks after the new leadership of the Communist Party took office, China's state media reported a dizzying series of scandals, often from private whistleblowers. The most prominent include: a district people's congress representative in Shanxi Province who had 10 children with four wives; an opium-addicted prefecture-level leader in Yunnan Province who accumulated 23 properties, six of which were in Australia; and an official in Hunan Province who owned US$19 million in assets of unknown origin and once gave his young daughter US$32,000 in cash on her birthday.

Earlier this month, the Communist Party mouthpiece People's Daily wrote on its website, "The anti-corruption storm has arrived."

The exposure of such a large number of scandals indicates that China's new leadership may take a more serious approach than its predecessors to address problems such as cronyism, bribery, and indulgence in drunkenness and debauchery, which are widespread among state-owned enterprises, local governments, and even the shabby neighborhood committees responsible for overseeing health. Xi Jinping, the new general secretary of the Communist Party of China and soon to be China's president, has warned that the party's rule will be threatened if corruption cannot be curbed. A few days after his speech, the anti-corruption campaign began.

"The situation has changed," said Zhu Ruifeng, a journalist now living in Beijing. He has exposed more than 100 cases of suspected corruption on his website, including the scandal of Lei Zhengfu. "In the past, it would have taken ten days for officials involved in sex scandals to get out of office. This time it only took 66 hours."

Qi Fang serves as police chief in a small city in western China, and his debauchery may be enough to win him an original story award. An online whistleblower revealed this month that Qi Fang is keeping a pair of young sisters. Coincidentally, the sisters also found jobs in the Public Security Bureau and lived together in a government-funded apartment.

Qi Fang, who lost his official position, had previously denied any wrongdoing and corrected one detail of the story: Contrary to previous reports, the sisters were not twins.

Analysts say that while the recent scandals are rife with obscene content, it is still unclear whether Xi Jinping and other top leaders have the determination and courage to launch a no-holds-barred war against ubiquitous corruption within the party.

They point out that most recent scandals have been exposed by journalists, anonymous citizens or disgruntled colleagues who posted photos or other damning accusations online, forcing authorities to respond. Another point worth mentioning is that most of the resigned officials held relatively low official positions.

A manager of a major Chinese Internet company said that the Chinese Communist Party did not block condemnation online and was essentially supporting the nationwide anti-corruption campaign. But he said it was well understood that senior officials were off limits.

"For now, this behavior is spontaneous," the manager said. He declined to release the name of the company because of the political sensitivity of the matter. "But we also know the bottom line."

This month, Luo Changping, deputy editor of the innovative news magazine Caijing, took to his Weibo to report Liu Tienan, director of the National Energy Administration, for engaging in illegal transactions. Luo Changping also accused Liu Tienan of falsifying his academic qualifications on Weibo and threatened to kill his mistress. The accusations caused an uproar in China because they involved senior government officials. Equally surprising, many said, was the fact that Luo Changping's comments were not deleted by censors, despite Liu Tienan's denials of inappropriate behavior.

Zhu Ruifeng, a journalist who exposed official misconduct on the Internet, also found it strange because he posted a video of Lei Zhengfu having sex with an 18-year-old woman in a hotel five years ago on his website, but the website was not affected at all in the month that followed. Zhu Ruifeng said that after revelations broke in the past, his website was often blocked and often aggressively visited by security officials.

Zhu Ruifeng said in surprise, "This time I received a call from the Beijing police, saying that they had received instructions to protect me."

Zhu Ruifeng still has four videos in his hand that can ruin his reputation. He has promised to release the videos once the subjects of the videos are identified.

Since the central government has yet to introduce any new policies, many Chinese people can only ponder the rhetoric of Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan. Wang Qishan is the new secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, which is responsible for investigating misconduct by party members.

On November 15, Xi Jinping said in his inauguration speech, "In recent years, long-term accumulated conflicts have led to public dissatisfaction, social unrest, and regime collapse in some countries, of which corruption is a very important reason."

What is even more telling is the report that Wang Qishan urged officials to read "The Old Regime and the Revolution." This is a 19th-century work by Alexis de Tocqueville, which analyzes the extravagance and extravagance of French aristocrats that eventually led to the guillotine. Gao Yi, a history professor at Peking University, told the 21st Century Business Herald that Wang Qishan's message was clear: "The biggest drawback of the old system was the corruption of the rulers."

This warning seems to have had some influence within the party. On Monday, Oriental Morning Post reported that real estate agents in at least two provinces said they were struggling to deal with government officials eager to sell properties who did not want to attract investigations.

Recently, Wang Baolin, a former low-level official in Guangzhou, was tried for having $3.3 million in income from unknown sources in his account, which provides a glimpse into the extent of corruption. Wang Baolin defended his behavior by saying that taking bribes was his only choice. He said, "If I don't accept it, I can't afford to offend."

Xi Jinping is not the first Chinese leader to accuse officials of bad habits and corruption. Outgoing Chinese President Hu Jintao has said corruption is a "ticking time bomb for society". Former Prime Minister Zhu Rongji once vowed to sacrifice his life in the fight against corruption. In 1998, when Zhu Rongji became prime minister, he said, "I have prepared 100 coffins here, 99 for corrupt officials and one for myself."

Zhu Rongji is still alive today. As soon as Zhu Rongji left office, his son Zhu Yunlai became the head of one of China's largest investment banks.

Critics say party elites fear that any widespread anti-corruption drive could endanger themselves because they have many relatives who benefit from their proximity to power. Although outgoing Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has a clean image, the New York Times revealed in October that Wen Jiabao's immediate family members own assets of at least US$2.7 billion.

In July, Bloomberg reported that many of Xi Jinping’s relatives have been doing well in recent years, especially his sister. His relatives hold company equity worth hundreds of millions of dollars and own at least six high-end properties in Hong Kong.

The report did not say that Xi Jinping or Wen Jiabao profited from their relatives' business transactions. But news of family members of high-ranking officials getting rich through connections has long irritated many Chinese.

A businessman who knows several senior officials said that the condemnation on the Internet has made these senior officials restrain themselves. He said, "There will be less extravagance and corruption for the time being, but it was the same when Hu Jintao first came to power. Look at what he will be like when he leaves office."

State media have begun urging caution, and a newspaper editor in Beijing said propaganda officials have been trying to limit exposure. Experts say China's leaders have so far refused to even consider key tools to eradicate corruption: government transparency, a system of checks and balances, a free media and an independent judiciary.

Li Xinde runs a website that exposes corrupt officials. He said: "Without an effective system, the anti-corruption movement can only become a liquidation tool."

Andrew Jacobs is a Beijing correspondent for the New York Times.

Patrick Zuo contributed research to this article.

>Excerpted from "The New York Times Chinese Website"