Chinanews, Beijing, Mar. 30 – While Chinese senior officials become more highly-educated than before, some corrupt senior officials also begin to cherish a high-quality life. Instead of taking bribery with a bald-faced attitude, they now prefer to accept gifts which can show that they have good taste, the China Biweekly Review reported.
Hao Heping, former head of the Medical Equipment Department under the State Food and Drug Administration, was a downright golf lover, before he was punished for taking bribes. When he was still a senior official, he used to fly to various cities to play golf. Yet he only made 60,000 yuan a year and his wife’s annual salary was about 100,000 yuan. With such family income, he actually couldn’t afford to play golf at his own expense.
How could he manage to get enough money to play golf? He accepted bribes. He had three golf club membership cards, which were valued at 500,000 yuan. He was not the only official that played golf in this way. According to Luo Yifeng, a NPC deputy who has engaged in investigating corrupt practices among officials, many golf clubs regard public servants as their most important customers.
Some high-class entertainment venues cost even more money than golf courses. Many cities have set up top-class entertainment venues, where people can dine, keep fit, play various kinds of sports games, and enjoy performances in the same place. Sometimes these venues also offer pornographic performances. The main customers who visit these places include not only rich businesspeople, but also senior officials.
As rich people gather more wealth, a high-class social group has taken shape in society. People of this group sit at the top of the social pyramid. They live a luxury life, or even a super luxury life. In these social circumstances, some officials, who regard themselves as powerful people in society, cannot resist the temptation of a luxury life. Money and sex cannot satisfy them any more. Rather, they hope to become a member of the upper class. According to Zhou Guiying, a NPC deputy, living like an aristocrat has become their goal of life.
