Ambitious Chinese officials ‘setting secret traps to blackmail rivals’ to advance their own careers
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 12 February, 2015, 4:01pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 12 February, 2015, 5:47pm
Angela Meng [email protected]
An image from the secretly filmed video of Liang Wenyong, a former Hebei province party boss, which went viral and led to his sacking. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Ambitious rivals of communist party cadres and businessmen linked to China’s political figures have secretly set “traps” to help blackmail them over indiscretions and advance their own careers, Chinese media reports.
The traps include hiding cameras and other recording devices in hotels, restaurants, karaoke clubs and other venues frequented by officials across the country.
The Chinese magazine, Honesty Outlook, reported that this unorthodox practice had become much more common since President Xi Jinping launched his unprecedented anti-corruption campaign, targeting party, government, military and state-owned company officials suspected of corruption, after coming to power in late 2012.
“Disgruntled underlings and peers are both likely to set up traps and record evidence of officials’ wrongdoings,” Wang Wu, a local party chief in an named county in western China, was quoted as saying.
In one case in 2013, Liang Wenyong, the party boss for Gushanzi town, in the northwestern province of Hebei, was sacked after a video went viral showing him eating an expensive meal and speaking disdainfully about the average Chinese citizen.
The video showed Liang sitting in front of lavish seafood items, high-priced liquor and expensive cigarettes.
However, only Liang’s face was shown in the video. The man sitting next to him had been completely blurred out. Other officials present in the video also received punishments.
In many cases, “traps” are set up by underlings who want to blackmail their superiors to gain promotion, or get their superiors fired so they can claim the job themselves.
In one such case, three Hunan officials secretly set up a camera near the water dispenser of their boss, Hua Jiawu, the party chief of Mayang Miao Autonomous County Committee.
The hidden camera filmed several sensitive matters, but Hu notified the police, and all three officials that hid the camera were each sentenced to 20 months in jail for illegal wiretapping and filming.
“Whether it is for personal gain, or out of righteousness, this practice is not desirable” the report said.
