简体中文
Do you think a fly is less threatening than a tiger? Perhaps yes, if you are talking about things of nature and not Chinese bureaucracy.
In China many "flies", political jargon for corrupt low-ranking officials, have grown bigger than the tigers by feeding on money.
A former official in charge of water supply in Beidaihe District in Hebei Province, a resort favored by Beijing leaders, was reported earlier this week to be holding 120 million yuan (19.5 million U.S. dollars) in cash and 37 kilograms of gold. This amount of cash, should it all be in 100 yuan notes, could weigh as much as 1.38 tonnes.
Ma Chaoqun, former general manager of the state-owned water supply company in Beidaihe, Qinhuangdao City, was also found to have 68 real estate certificates at his house, according to local discipline inspection authorities.
Local authorities said Ma's wealth might be the proceeds of graft and bribery.
On Oct. 31, prosecuting authorities revealed that they had seized more than 200 million yuan in cash from the house of Wei Pengyuan, a vice director of the National Energy Administration's coal department. The money was the largest amount seized since the founding of new China in 1949.
The problem of "low-level officials obtaining huge wealth" is common in many areas ranging from the northwest Shannxi Province to the east coastal city of Shanghai, according to the latest findings of 13 inspection teams from the Communist Party of China's (CPC) Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.
The inspection teams oversaw investigations into officials in 10 provincial regions and several government organs from July to October and found that "fly-style corruption" had become an increasingly serious issue.
HOW A FLY DEVOURS TONNES OF CASH
In Ma Chaoqun's case, the wealth he has amassed seems impossible given his position which offered a normal monthly wage of 10,000 yuan.
His 37 kg of gold has been valued at over 1.5 million dollars based on Friday's gold price. The 68 residences, which are still waiting to be confirmed to be registered under his name, were in places including Beijing and Qinhuangdao city of Hebei -- the total value is unknown.
Ma's company supplies water for the noted Beidaihe resort district, where Chinese leaders work and rest in the hot summer season.
An unnamed official familiar with Ma said, "Ma dares to take money from everyone and from everywhere". "No money, no water. He will also suspend water supply if the fee is deemed too low," said the source.
Another local source said Ma's unscrupulous acts have stirred public resentment. Even some government departments have to pay extra money for an access to water.
He extorted bribes twice from a large company who wanted to build a hotel in the city, sources said. The company's staff recorded his extortion and sent the recording to local authorities, which led to his eventual fall, according to sources.
NET THE FLIES
The Hebei discipline inspection authorities said some local low-level officials have grasped great power and privileges by controlling scarce resources like water, land and educational facilities, or monopolizing industries such as electricity, gas and medical care.
They have "absolute power" in certain places or industries and are faced up with various temptation, local authorities said.
Zhang Sining, a researcher from the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, said a lack of constraint on such power is to blame. He stressed that a powerful supervision system must be established to regulate officials' behavior, leaving no room for corruption.
President Xi Jinping, who launched the nation's unprecedented antigraft battle, vowed to go after both "tigers" (corrupt high-ranking officials) and "flies," and constrain political power within a "cage of regulations."
Indeed the pubic is witnessing the caging of more big "tigers", including former senior CPC leader Zhou Yongkang and former senior army general Xu Caihou.
However, Gao Bo, politics researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the numerous "flies" had still not been given enough attention and were being underestimated.
Grassroots officials are close to the people, and their malpractice is seen by the people and seriously impairs the government's image, according to Gao.
Making the government more transparent is another solution to preventing corruption at the grassroots level, said law professor Jiang Ming'an.
The publicity policy of some local governments has been formalistic, Jiang said, adding that some local officials often failed to inform people of new subsidies from central documents, and some even forged policy documents to skim public funds.
Jiang also suggested the improvement of grassroots democratic election, which will help prevent officials from becoming corrupt "flies".
