China's concubines have struck again. A corrupt senior official in Shaanxi Province has been brought down by his 11 mistresses, according to reports in state media last Friday.
Pang Jiayu (
As at least the fourth cadre to lose his job in the past year as a result of accusations from "second wives," Pang's case has prompted a flurry of reports in the domestic media about the resurgence of China's ancient concubine culture among corrupt officials.
According to one recent survey, 90 percent of senior officials convicted of serious corruption in the past five years kept mistresses. In many cases, they are accused of abusing their positions to make enough money to shower their lovers with gifts.
It is hard to separate the salacious stories from political point-scoring, but when a victim falls from grace, the accusations in the local media fly thick and fast.
Pang, 63, was the CCP chief of Baoji City. His position gave him the power to decide the fate of his subordinates and the awarding of local development contracts.
According to the People's Daily, he persuaded many of the most attractive and young wives of his employees to become his mistresses in return for "big money projects" for their husbands.
Local media said Pang earned the nickname "mayor zipper" in Baoji and city officials had a saying among themselves: "No sacrifice [of one's wife], no gain."
In one case, Pang's wife and mistresses worked together on a water-diversion project that collapsed less than a year after the construction was finished, the paper said.
His fate was sealed when several of his mistresses' husbands were sentenced to death for bribery. The wives joined forces to denounce Pang, who would otherwise probably have escaped censure because of his political connections.
With no independent judiciary, no free media and no electoral accountability, China is suffering a plague of corruption. The country's leaders have repeatedly warned that it is one of the biggest threats to the legitimacy of the CCP.
When cases do come to light, the punishment is swift and often deadly. The party's discipline inspection commission said in July that Pang would be dealt with severely.
"Pang did not expect that he would be brought down by his own 11 mistresses," the People's Daily said in a report on its Web site. "What awaits Pang Jiayu is severe punishment."
In imperial times, a large number of concubines was a symbol of power. The practice is thought to have been stamped out after the CCP took power in 1949, although Mao Zedong (毛澤東) had many lovers, according to his physician.
But in recent years the keeping of mistresses and ernai (
Last week, Duan Yihe (
The highest-ranking official to fall from grace in the past year, Chen Liangyu (
Corruption and concubines go hand in hand, according to a report in the Beijing News this week, which found that 14 of the 16 most senior officials found guilty of gambling, illegal property deals and money-laundering also had mistresses.
This has become a target of black humor among the local media, Internet community and even Chinese expatriates.
According to a widely circulated report on the Rednet Web site, there are five motives for officials to keep a mistress: Using their power to play with women, showing off, addiction to sex, perversion and a desire to have more children.
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