No banquets or lovers: Chinese Communist Party attempts moral reform
Beijing (AsiaNews) - In yet another attempt to give a positive image of themselves, the Chinese Communist Party is laying down new rules for its members, from now on, there will be no more expenditure on luxuries for banquets and meetings, and members will have to live a life of chastity, fidelity to their spouse, without maintaining any lover.
According to Xinhua, henceforth civilian and military personnel will not be allowed spend money on lavish banquets or use of alcohol. They will have to do without red carpets and chauffeured cars and when they visit the provinces can not reside in luxury hotels. Instead of banquets, they must offer a more sober buffet. According to State TV estimates, each year the Chinese bureaucrats spend 200 billion yuan for meals (approximately 25 billion euro).
The new pseudo-Calvinist wave is deemed necessary after the many scandals that have affected many senior figures in the party. The most famous is the scandal of Chongqing and its leader Bo Xilai, now in disgrace. Bo, who was expelled from the Party, was accused of covering up the responsibility for his wife Gu Kailai's murder of British entrepreneur Neil Heywood, of having pocketed bribes totaling 20 million yuan (about 2 million euro) of having changed norms to to encourage business partners; having had sex with hundreds of women.
And speaking of sexual relations, Guangdong was the first province to require monogamous fidelity of its members. An anti-corruption group found that 38 of 61 county leaders are not faithful to their spouse and maintain one or more lovers.
Some sex scandals have been reported on the internet. The most famous concerns Lei Zhengfu, secretary of the party in Beibei (Chongqing), who was filmed in a video with some lovers.
The fight against corruption is an attempt to save the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, which - as stated by Hu Jintao at the recent Congress - is likely to "fall". But many analysts such as Ming Xinpei, think that by now the party is unable to reform itself and is doomed to fail.
.png)
