简体中文
A string of Chinese officials are being investigated for corruption by netizens - China's increasingly vocal online population - who are blowing the whistle, on officials.
In northwestern Gansu, Lanzhou city mayor, Yuan Zhanting, is at the eye of the storm, after one netizen, became a detective - despite warnings from the local government.
Here's how he did it...
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A few days ago, a well known netizen, Zhou Lubao, posted photos of the Lanzhou city mayor's collection of expensive watches on the Weibo.com - the Twitter of China.
The message spread fast and soon became a hot topic.
CNC spoke to Zhou after the CPC Gansu Commission for Discipline Inspection denied his accusations on Saturday.
The 27-year-old had served four years in the PLA. After retiring, he became a salesman.
He is passionate about current affairs, especially anti-corruption, and writes critical articles in his spare time. He says the official's luxury watches, spell bribery...
SOUNDBITE (CHINESE) ZHOU LUBAO, Informant:
"I noticed the expensive watches worn by mayor Yuan and searched for more photos as proof of his corruption."
Since then, Zhou spent three months researching how much the watches cost.
SOUNDBITE (CHINESE) ZHOU LUBAO, Informant:
"I invited my friends in QQ groups and other online circles to help me identify the prices. One of my friends in Wenzhou who knows a lot about watches confirmed they were Omega, Rolex and other luxury brands.
Then I made the comparison at home on a professional watch website, to be sure."
Zhou says Yuan has five luxury watches including a Vacheron Constantin watch worth 32 thousand US dollars, and a 24 thousand-dollar Omega watch.
...Which he posted, online.
Zhou's Weibo followers increased by 2,000 within two days, and theinformation circulated thousands of times.
But the microblog was later deleted and Zhou received warnings to erase the information.
Yet despite receiving threats, Zhou says he has faith in the law:
SOUNDBITE (CHINESE) ZHOU LUBAO, Informant:
"I'm not scared, because I have confidence in myself for all the efforts I have made to confirm the facts. We live in a society governed by rule of law, I believe the power of the law."
Some believe anti-corruption should be better backed up, while others say it could spread fake news.
But Zhou says he's simply exercising his rights of supervision as a citizen.
SOUNDBITE (CHINESE) ZHOU LUBAO, Informant:
"Admittedly, the use of microblogs as an anti-corruption method can spread the word, but that is not the final target of us. We want the relevant government departments to respond."
The Gansu CPC Commission for Discipline Inspection denied Zhou's accusation on Saturday, claiming that through a preliminary investigation, the watches owned by Yuan, were bought with his own income.
And that none of his watches were worth as much as Zhou said.
Another netizen, Zhang Xiaohuan, says he has sent an application to the financial departments of Lanzhou City and Gansu Province, calling for the release Yuan's total income last year.
So far, the request has yet to be answered.
