“This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that
translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article
below was originally published in” the
Economic Observer.
This new form of public entertainment has also landed in China: the digital
political sex scandal. The starring role, as always, goes to a respectably
married middle-aged man in an important position. The script includes the
usual wealth of spicy details to prolong the pleasure.
Take the hapless Xie Zhiqiang, Director of Jiangsu Province’s Bureau of
Health. Someone told him that emails and texting were old hat and that he
should get into Twitter-style microblogging. They neglected to mention that
his updates would be visible to everyone. Xie’s communications with his
mistress, a married woman, were laid bare for all to see, including the
meeting time, hotel room number, and preliminary discussions of what they’d
be busy doing. For the delighted readers, it was a carnival. Not only that,
but he told his paramour to bring along any receipts she had so he could get
them refunded.
The municipal government and the commission for discipline promptly
intervened, immediately suspending Xie from his position and putting him
under investigation for corruption. Online supporters expressed sympathy for
the unfortunate Mr. Xie, convinced he was truly in love with the lady, and
just an idiot when it comes to new technology. Some were even inclined to
forgive his attempts to claim expenses with his dodgy invoices.
In another case, Liu Ning, a section chief in the local administration of
the city of Guangzhou, got in the habit of joining internet chat rooms where
participants are naked, but their faces are hidden. As you may guess, in
this man’s case his face was clearly visible. Embarrassment is painful but
rarely fatal.
Then there’s the case of Han Feng, director of the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau
in Guangxi province, who was using his elevated status to enjoy the favors
of no fewer than six women subordinates. However, a disloyal husband should
always beware of revenge. Han’s private diary mysteriously found its way
online, dripping with saucy details. After each encounter with one of his
ladies, he wrote a blow-by-blow account — what he called his “hunting
bounty”. These appeared on the web, and became a very popular read.
Going back to Director Xie’s situation, the
Chinese thought first of the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Looking back, we understand that in party politics, a president’s moral
flaws will be ruthlessly attacked by the opposition party. The U.S. Congress
started impeachment proceedings, and the Republicans were eager to kick
Clinton out.
But at a crucial juncture, Hilary Clinton saved her husband by publicly
supporting him, so changing the minds of those who had been in favor of his
ouster. Clinton kept his job not because Americans accept lax moral
standards in their officials. On the contrary, due to the media muckraking
in party politics, the public sets a very high moral threshold in selecting
officials. And even more important, in the Clinton affair, this
“philandering” president was not guilty of abusing his powers: Lewinski did
not get a job in the White House after her internship ended.
By contrast, Xie’s affair has provided some conclusive evidence that this
director-valentine offered to reimburse his lover’s invoices for personal
purchases. This is corruption. Most people who sympathize with him are
basing their reasoning on their presumption that Xie is indeed corrupt, but
not to an extreme degree. He was only trying to cheat on a few expense
claims. The biggest grief would be that this kind of “tolerance” becomes the
common public attitude.
Also from Worldcrunch:
An Iranian Art Exhibit in Israel Sparks Controversy— Haaretz
Are NATO Attacks in Libya All About the Oil?— Le Monde
When the Euro Zone Gets Split In Two: Behold the
‘Nordeuro’— Die Welt
See “On the Cutting Edge: China’s Extraordinary Buildings.”
See portraits of Chinese workers.”
