Power, sex and money: the recipe for corruption

Judging from the high-level corruption cases that have come to light recently, power, money and sex have become the three-legged fixture of officialdom on the mainland.

This has given rise to the popular saying that behind every dirty business tycoon there are corrupt high-level officials acting as his protectors and co-conspirators; and behind every arrested official there are pretty young women acting as mistresses and business partners.

The latest corruption case, involving the former Guangdong police chief and the province's former anti-graft chief, is no exception.

The central government's investigation of the scandal - which also implicated an assistant minister of public security, a top police chief in charge of economic crime for the city of Beijing, a leading player deeply involved in the casino business in Hong Kong and Macau, one Guangdong TV presenter and one famed singer of Guangdong opera - has shown no sign of winding down.

It has given rise to hopes that mainland leaders are this time determined to hunt down some 'big cats' - corrupt officials with powerful backing - after their 2006 campaign, which brought down Shanghai party chief Chen Liangyu and his cronies.

The display of determination is necessary because this year has proved to be one of the most challenging for mainland leaders. They have to deal not only with the global economic crisis, but also with politically sensitive anniversaries - including the 20th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square on June 4.