While a lot of hullabaloo has been made about China's far-reaching anti-corruption campaign at the orders of President Xi Jinping, the ruling Communist Party's latest crackdown on "moral corruption" seems to be gaining ground as well, BBC News reported. At least six senior officials have been punished as of Tuesday on allegations that they committed adultery.
Communist party officials now face the threat of getting sacked if they cheat on their wives, a report in the English-language newspaper China Daily stated. The most recent official to be punished is Yang Baohua, former vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Hunan Provincial Committee - Hunan's top political advisory body - who was expelled on Tuesday from the Communist Party of China.
On June 7, members were warned by the CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection that they must adhere to "higher moral standards" than the public since they are governed by rules that are stricter than the country's laws, China Daily USA reported.However, authorities have previously used ambiguous terms to accuse officials of having extramarital relationships, such as "living a degenerate lifestyle" or "moral corruption". But there is no official explanation of what "moral corruption" is, though an official from the top anti-graft watchdog told the Henan Business News that the term means an official has had at least three mistresses.
In the public's eyes, mistresses have become the ultimate symbol of corruption, with the common assumption being that no official would be able to buy his mistress a car or a home without stealing from public funds.
According to a government report, a startling 90 percent of top officials brought down by corruption scandals have kept a mistress, including many cases where they had more than one.
"But many see the Communist party preaching about morality as perverse and little more than a propaganda stunt," according to BBC News. "When the former top leader, Bo Xilai, was first charged with corruption, prosecutors added rather gratuitously that he had 'maintained improper sexual relations' with several women."
"The accusation may well have been true. But by putting sex on the charge sheet the authorities were seeking to blacken the politician's name before a trial even took place." Hence, by focusing the public's attention to the moral failings of one man, the party seems to want its own misdeeds forgotten.