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China news tagged with: local corruption (12)

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Official Sacked for Overseas Trip, with Netizens’ Reactions
A luxurious 14-day trip to Africa and the Middle East by Guangdong local officials financed by public funds has been met with intense scrutiny after a netizen posted a indicting 17-minute video of the trip’s exploits online. As a result of the uproar, a deputy Party secretary was dismissed from his position. From China Daily:
A deputy Party chief of a district in Guangdong province has been sacked from his post in the wake of the online exposure of a 14-day overseas group trip at public expense, a local disciplinary authority said Monday.
Tan Rigui, deputy Party secretary of Duanzhou district of Zhaoqing city in the southern province, led the group consisting of 13 district officials to Africa and the Middle East between February and March 2007, the Zhaoqing disciplinary inspection committee said on its website.
The committee has asked all members of the tour group to accept responsibility and repay the cost, estimated at more than 450,000 yuan ($65,800).
News of the trip was made public last week when a citizen from Luoding in Guangdong posted a 17-minute video on the Internet.
AFP remarks on the role of the Internet in this and other similar incidents:
However, without an independent media or judicial system, corrupt cadres have often been able to act with impunity.
In recent years, though, the Internet has emerged as a powerful tool for ordinary Chinese to expose their corrupt rulers.
[...]And in December, an official in the eastern city of Nanjing was sacked after bloggers posted photos on the Internet showing him wearing a designer watch and smoking expensive cigarettes.
Other Internet postings suggested Zhou Jiugeng, head of a district housing bureau, had other habits well beyond a civil servant’s means such as driving to work in a Cadillac.

A newsclip featuring some of the video’s scenes. The full 17-minute video can be found here.
Undoubtedly, many netizens are frustrated with rampant local corruption. One blogger, Jade Pen Beacon (碧翰烽), writes on his reaction to the 17-minute video in a post entitled “Fortuitous finds or intentional indulgence? Who can believe that traveling officials are actually going on inspections?” (无意捡到还是有意放纵？谁还相信官员出国是为了考察？). Selectively translated by CDT:
This video records in detail the 14-day trip of the inspection group. Its degree of luxury is astounding. Once again, the video was a “fortuitous find.” Not only does it start recording from the first expenditure, but it also gives the trip a realistic quality: we can clearly see the inspection team members’ true faces.
But I was left perplexed. Why is it that our netizens are always the ones making these “fortuitous finds” while our political bureaus can’t intentionally uncover them? Is it because of their “intentional indulgence”? It’s really a mystery; I think they’re the only ones who know.
From this 17-minute video, we can distinctly make out the actual itinerary of the observation team: first, the places they’re inspecting are the countries’ famous landmarks and scenic spots. Perhaps they’re going to inspect their tour industry development, then? They went to an ostrich park, then the Cape Town Peninsula, and then a seal preservation zone. Out of the entire trip, there was only one instance that was relevant to the government observation team. Second, the degree of luxury on this trip is flabbergasting. They went on sumptuous tours, visited a gold mine, and a diamond factory. Furthermore, everyone purchased South African Diamonds. Third, I am struck by the trip’s vulgarity. For example, their going to see a belly dancing performance, and so on.
In regards to this situation, I don’t care if it’s real or fake; I fully believe that this sort of thing happens. This reminds me of a time when a few leaders spoke together. Between them, there were a few Party secretaries, some bureau chiefs, etc.
They said that these past few years, you can’t give out too much money to cadres — after all, policies up above are kind of strict — and there are no leaders who would take on too much responsibility, so they would write about tours. Hey, not giving out money is okay — just let the cadres take trips! One Party secretary said that nowadays inspection tours are not inspection tours; they’re just cover-ups for the real goal of sight seeing. He said that these past two years, every year there could be 2-3 “inspection tours,” and not one of them would be real. The year before last year, some village cadres organized trips to Hong Kong and Macao. Last year, they again went on a trip, this time to Hainan Island. What can you “inspect,” there, huh? It’s just having fun. And then he said last year he went two more times on “inspections.” All of them had a bit of the content of inspection, but the time spent on that was only one day. Moreover, it was just listening to introductory talks by some people, and then checking out some companies. The remaining time was spent at a number of scenic spots.
On Sohu, a detailed list of the itinerary is given. Translated by CDT:
14 days, 13 people
Amount spent: 450,000 yuan
2/26: Depart from Hong Kong for Johannesburg, South Africa. Fly Cathay Pacific Airways. Flight time is 12 hours, 50 minutes.
2/27: Visit an ostrich park, Tafelberg.
2/28: After breakfast, go to Cape Town Peninsula, see seal preservation zone. After lunch, go to penguin beach. Go again to Cape of Good Hope.
3/1: From Hopetown to Sun City. Get on a plane.
3/2: Go by jeep to see a wild animal reservation, Sun City.
3/3: Depart for Cairo. Visit a gold mine, diamond factory, purchase diamonds, watch a dance.
3/4: See the pyramids and the Sphinx.
3/5: Cairo — Alexandria. Pompeii pillars.
3/6: After breakfast, get on a plane for Istanbul. The flight’s duration is 2 hours and 10 minutes. After arriving, go to the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque.
3/7: After breakfast, view the Istanbul Strait. During the trip, there is a performance, during which several members of the group act like fools. After lunch, see local palace. At night, board plane for Dubai.
3/9: Take a luxurious drive to a desert zone. At night, partake in a large Arabic feast, and enjoy a belly dance performance.
3/10: Visit 7 star restaurant.
3/11: (14th day). End of trip. From Dubai, fly back to Hong Kong.
There are currently over 4892 comments on the Sohu posting. Here is a selection translated by CDT:
Prohibit human flesh search engines! Clearly, there are some officials who fear being found by this method. Now, online anti-corruption is the only method. How sad!
禁止人肉搜索！明明是有的官员怕有一天被搜出来而采取的手段！现在反腐就只有网络一个手段了！可悲！
Actually, a lot of cadres are the same. This is only the tip of the iceberg!
其实很多干部都一样，这只是冰山一角罢了！
Intentional and unintentional “finds” [see above] of corrupt happenings are too common.
有意和无意都可”捡到”腐败的事，太多了
While he’s been exposed, how many countless other officials are still in hiding? They’re living in comfort.
他是被曝光了的，还那么多无数的官没有被曝的呢？？就享福了吧
We officials go to the desert to play “eluding the cat“~~
俺们公仆去沙漠躲猫猫~~
We should let them organize an inspection trip to Sichuan’s disaster areas
应该让他们组团到四川灾区去考察考察
The people’s sweat and blood money has been used to help the economy of large deserts.
老百性血汗钱就这样帮助了大沙漠经济增长
Externally, he’s had his job removed, but wait a few days — is he just going to get transferred to another position?
对外是免职，是否会瞒天过海稍后调职任用呢？
Ah, what a lovely situation. Let people around the world know that our country’s got money! Keep doing your inspections.
很好的事情啊,叫地球人都知道咱国家有钱啊.继续考察啊
The system won’t change, it’ll always govern outwardly without caring about the root of the situation!!!
There are lots of these types of people — you could say that all officials are like this!!!!
体制不改，永远治标不治本！！！
这样的人何其之多，可以说公务员都是这样！！！！
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- February 25, 2009 10:59 AM
The Rigged Jiangsu Public Opinion Poll
Roland Soong of ESWN translates a piece from China National Radio on the discovery of rigged answers to a Jiangsu public opinion poll. Villagers complained that questions regarding annual incomes, social security, and overall satisfaction levels all had predetermined responses:
A few days ago, there was a random telephone survey of residents in the Qidong, Haimen, Tongzhou and other districts of Nantong city in Jiangsu province. The purpose was to determine the prosperity level of the people and to listen to their feedback. Local cadres asked the interviewees to use previously distributed standard answers. Many elementary and secondary schools even had a day off so that the students can memorize the answers and “assist” their parents to deal with the telephone poll. Our in-depth investigation showed that this brazenly rigged public opinion poll was the work of certain individual cadres who wanted to show that the people have reached the prosperity target goals.
At the Seventeenth Communist Party Congress, the goal was bring about a fully prosperous society. Jiangsu province proposed a high-level of prosperity in which the masses will benefit and accept. Public opinion polling was part of this process, whereby a county/city needs more than 60% agreement from the public before it can be declared as reaching the full prosperity standard. In late 2008, Qidong city under Nantong city attained a 94.8% approval rate in the random telephone poll conducted by the Jiangsu province Bureau of Statistics. However, many local villagers told our reporter differently:
Village 1: The wholis thing was faked! It was all faked in our village! It was certainly faked!
Village 2: This is using money to buy lies.
» Read more
- February 13, 2009 5:45 PM
China Police Take Away Citizens Airing Grievances
Audra Ang of the Associated Press reports on the detention of citizens protesting against local corruption.
Police in China’s capital took away at least eight people trying to air grievances in front a government building Friday, days ahead of a key review of the country’s human rights record by the United Nations.
The eight were part of a loosely organized group of about 30 people from all around the country who had come to Beijing in hopes the central government would help them with a variety of problems, mostly centered around local corruption.
They gathered in front of the Cabinet’s information office Friday morning as more than a dozen officers and several squad cars stood by. Some carried banners but did not unfurl them. One said “Safeguard human rights. I love China,” while another was painted with the Chinese character for “injustice.”
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- February 6, 2009 1:04 AM
China Officials ‘Lost Millions’
Officials in Guangzhou have been investigated and/or jailed for gambling away over $3 million in public funds. From BBC:
Chinese media reports said more than 50 officials had been investigated and six had been jailed or punished.
The officials lost the money gambling at casinos in Macau, on cruise ships off Hong Kong, and betting on football matches, reports said.
[...] The heaviest sentence was given to Wu Xingkui, the Communist Party of China (CPC) number two in the town of Yunfu.
Mr Wu was handed a four-year jail term for embezzling large sums of public money to finance his gambling habit, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported.
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- January 10, 2009 9:27 PM
In Southeast China, Skepticism on Land Reforms
The Washington Post takes a closer look at recently announced proposed land reforms:
Described by the party as the most significant land reform package in three decades, the measures are intended to ensure that farmers receive compensation for land lost to development, without slowing the breakneck pace of industrial growth. They do so by allowing farmers to directly transfer their land, still technically owned by the state, to developers or other businesses.
But here in the rice-and-corn-growing region of Guangdong province, where tensions are still running high weeks after the protest, farmers say the changes do not address their main grievance: corruption, much of it directed by local party officials far below the radar of the central government in Beijing.
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“I don’t think this will give us more protection,” said a farmer in the village of Xianyi, two hours’ drive from Hebu, who gave his surname as Li. “We have no expectations. We just hope the government will not further take away our land, because we live on the land. If it’s sold, we will lose our livelihoods.”
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- October 29, 2008 9:32 PM
Corruption in China’s Countryside
On the New York Times blog, Hung Huang responds to the recent news about reforms in the rural land ownership system by telling the story of her experience buying property and building a weekend house in a Chinese village:
The party secretary came at dinnertime one evening and announced that we have to demolish our house because it was in the middle of a road that would be built for the Beijing Olympics. We got a little panicky, fed him some more wine, and tried to get him to help us to keep the house. He said he could probably help us. After all, there are three families whose houses sit in the middle of the road. Maybe the road should take a detour.
We heartily agreed, and told him that he was the best party secretary. He drank some more wine, commented about how he likes this foreign liquor called X.O., and told us that a getting a detour would cost us. We stuffed two bottles of X.O. (cognac) in his bag and paid him $10,000 and sent him on his way to make the road bend.
About four months later, the party secretary came again at dinner, and announced triumphantly that the road would be detoured and that we would get to keep our house. We were happy, so we gave him some wine and food, and as he was wiping his mouth with his shirt sleeves, he said, “But there is another problem.”
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- October 16, 2008 8:36 PM
Flap Over Fake Tiger Pix Shows Divide in China
AP sums up the controversy over the faked South China Tiger photos:
China’s fiercely vocal online community latched on to Zhou’s photo evidence, hyper-analyzing it and exposing it as a paper tiger — an old poster propped up among the trees.
But outraging the Internet activists even more were the local officials, whom they accused of supporting the doctored photos to boost tourism to the arid, poor province of Shaanxi.
“In my opinion, this is the struggle between the truth and government interest,” said Yu Hai, a sociology professor at Fudan University. “Zhou’s just a normal farmer who was inspired by money. The big boss behind this is, of course, the officials of Shaanxi province.”
The scandal reinforced popular disgust with government corruption and showed that public opinion, amplified by the Internet, can occasionally win out in authoritarian China.
» Read more
- July 7, 2008 1:11 PM
In China, Protests Flare Over Quake Aid
The Los Angeles Times reports from Luojiang, Sichuan about accusations of embezzlement of relief goods by local officials:
The Chinese central government has been widely applauded for quickly and effectively mobilizing national resources for rescue and relief efforts, but the magnitude 7.9 quake and its aftermath have sparked anger toward local governments. In several cities and towns, residents have accused officials of corrupt acts, including taking the best tents for themselves and underreporting the extent of quake casualties so as not to draw scrutiny from Beijing.
Protests and complaints against local officials aren’t rare, but what’s different is that the grievances are being captured on television or being reported by a press that has traditionally been tightly controlled but has had more freedom in the immediate aftermath of the natural disaster.
As well, parents whose children were killed are protesting the failure of local leaders to provide answers about why so many schools collapsed while structures around them, including government buildings, remained standing. Some believe local officials are trying to cover up shoddy construction.
For more on how this topic is playing out on the Chinese Internet and media, read this CDT post. See also “China’s top procuratorate vows to crackdown on quake relief corruption” from Xinhua.
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- May 29, 2008 1:29 PM
It Don’t Look Like A Red Envelope – Jonathan Ansfield
The latest Biganzi post from Jonathan Ansfield:

“There’s no denomination and no real issuer, but it’s money.”
Vouchers from the supermarket chain Trust-Mart (Â•ΩÂèàÂ§ö) have become a favored currency of petty corruption in Fujian, says a local entrepreneur who carries a stack on him. In the course of a recent interview about unrelated topics, by way of demonstrating how he greases the palms of tax, commerce, customs and other officials, he opened his glove compartment and whipped out the bills. Each was worth 100 yuan. “That right there is 3,000 kuai.”
Evidently, party inspectors in the free-wheeling province can catch on to more glamorous enticements like cash, apartments, junkets and jade mantelpieces. But these gift certificates are conveniently untraceable and unmarked but for the stamp of the company and carry the down-home label tihuodan ÊèêË¥ßÂçï, literally “bills of lading”, evoking tickets people used to trade for commodities like rice and pork in the state-planning days. “If you don’t believe me, I’ll sell you one,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll buy it back!”
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- November 25, 2007 7:55 AM
A Chinese Village Takes a Stand Against Graft – Peter Ford
The Christian Science Monitor gives an update on the 14 week long protest by villagers in Foshan who are fighting corrupt local officials:
Xiantang’s angry villagers took control of the village council’s opulent five-story offices on July 1, after officials had refused to open their accounting books. They have been there ever since, mounting a 24-hour guard over a pile of cardboard cartons they believe contain the accounts that will prove their allegations.
They threaten to stay there until regional authorities send auditors to check the books, and their demands have also taken on a political tone. “We want to elect a good village leader” to replace the current head of the council and Communist Party Secretary Lai Zhenchang, who was appointed by the government, says one of the protesters, Lai Jiawen. [Full text]

The story is accompanied by an audio report by Peter Ford about why the government has allowed the protests to continue for so long. Read also a Toronto Star report on Xiantang from last week, “It takes an angry village to revolt in rural China“.
[Image: Lai Niu points to the village leader he and fellow peasants accuse of fraud, via CSM]
» Read more
- October 18, 2007 11:24 AM
Central China official on trial for killing pedestrian, corruption – People’s Daily
Another story of an official prosecuted for corruption, from People’s Daily:
A Communist Party of China official in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province, went on trial on Tuesday for killing a pedestrian in a road accident, graft and the misappropriation of public money.
Wang Mingxian, believed to be about 50, was Party Secretary of Caidian District in Wuhan from 2001 until his suspension in May last year.
He is alleged to have hit two pedestrians while driving a car in the city on Nov. 13, 2003, killing one, and to have blamed his driver for the accident. [Full text]
» Read more
- September 26, 2006 7:35 PM
Tales from China’s farming frontline – Richard McGregor
From Financial Times:
China’s national audit office announced a new code of conduct after a macabre incident last week, when one of its auditors died of “excessive drinking and eating” at banquets hosted by the local electricity bureau whose books he was screening. His fellow auditors did not rush home in grief after their colleague’s death. Reportedly too upset to continue work after the bureau’s grande bouffe, they went on an all-expenses-paid trip elsewhere in China the next day to relax.
At first glance, this tragicomic scandal has little to do with China’s long-suffering farmers, even if it does have echoes in one tale of a newly translated book on the local peasantry by two Chinese researchers-cum-investigative reporters, Chen Guidi and Wu Chuntao. In their account, a peasant demands an investigation into free-loading officials who are bankrupting the village with their banquets. Weeks later, he returns to demand the investigation be called off because the auditor had joined in the festivities. [Full text]
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- August 29, 2006 9:19 AM