or-politics.com
October 24, 2015
Maybe that’s why the Communist Party is putting up a wall and cracking down on people who break the rules.
“Since President Xi Jinping began his sweeping campaign against corruption, waste and extravagance three years ago, the government has released details of the sometimes luxurious lives of officials who are supposed to live on modest sums and lead morally exemplary lives”, Reuters notes.
Dozens of senior officials have been investigated or jailed. A vice mayor in a southeastern Chinese metropolis was sacked this month for belonging to a golf membership and enjoying the sport when he ought to have been working.
“Party members must separate public and private interests, put the public’s interest first, and work selflessly”, the Xinhua report said.
Party members and government officials are already prevented from engaging in highly conspicuous lifestyles and the hosting of extravagant social events at the expense of taxpayers. As the BBC previously reported, the Communist Party believed corrupt officials were using public money to splurge on moon cakes and other entertainments during the festival.
According to party analysts quoted in state media, the new guidelines – meant to codify existing regulations – were clarified partially because many penalties within the party are falling behind the country’s anti-corruption momentum. The total number of golf courses in the country tripled between 2004 and 2009, even though only ten of the new courses were government-approved.
“Golf has been labelled with a very negative image”, Jacky Peng, founder of Niceon Sport and a manager of professional Chinese golfers, told Reuters. “Without authorities help, it is extremely arduous to develop such an elite sport”.
Another golf shop owner, Miss Yang, said the regulations were stalling public interest.
Gary Player Design, the legendary South African golfer’s course design group, has several courses in China. “They are opposed to corruption and they are trying to tackle it any way they can”, Ferrell said.
Ultimately, the new rules impact a few 88 million party members, less than 5 percent of the country’s population. The cost of adultery is steadily levelled at excessive-rating graft suspects as a approach of displaying they’re morally degenerate and deserve punishment.
The regulations – which claim to apply to everyone in the 88-million-strong Communist Party – also forbid forming cliques within the party and nepotism.
