China Is Slowly Tackling Corruption

After China’s new President Xi Jinping became Communist Party General Secretary in November, he made it his top priority to crack down on corrupt officials, no matter whether high-ranking “tigers” or lowly “flies.” These scoundrels have traditionally have been immune to prosecution, with government censors swiftly hushing up accusations. And while many corrupt officials continue to thrive, this invulnerability is not what it once was — not only with Xi’s new directive, in the wake of which censors left allegations of graft untouched on the Internet, but also with a sudden abundance of jilted mistresses eager to use their ex–lovers’ status against them. A 2012 survey claims 95% of corrupt officials had mistresses and more than 60% kept concubines.