Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - For a career in the district of Shuyang, Jiangsu Province, government officials must be on good terms with parents, children, neighbourhood and must not cheat on their wives.
These new standards of morality imposed by the Communist Party of China (CPC) on 96 members of local government and officials of the CPC, Shuyang District. Their personal morality is established through interviews, home visits and investigations by the police. Signs of "moral corruption" will be reported as points of demerit in biennial assessments of their performance, compromising their career.
According to the CPC Central Commission for Disciplinary Control statistics, in 95% of major corruption cases, offenders have extramarital affairs. "These rules are needed," said Tian Xianfeng, Shuyang police chief. 'If we find signs of corruption in routine checks, we can intervene and solve them earlier. "
However, not everyone agrees. According to He Bing, a professor of law and political science at the University of China, the new rules are unnecessary, " how can love affairs be disclosed in a routine check? There is a strong risk of privacy violations. To fight corruption greater efforts are needed to verify the use of public funds and put strict requirements for submitting tax returns”.
Tian Xiangbo, a member of the Research Centre for a transparent government of Hunan University, believes the new measure is right: " The limits of officials' privacy should not be the same as that of ordinary people. Officials are obliged to disclose some of their personal affairs for the sake of the public interest " Even Xiangbo, however, advances doubts that a successful marriage is a good indicator of professional competence.
On 11 July, the General Office of CPC Central Committee has called on all Chinese officials to give information about their marriage relationship and the property owned by the whole family. According to an interview published by Xinhua with an anti-corruption official who preferred anonymity, the party has not clarified what information should be detailed.