More officials trying to get away with murder

Scheming and double-dealing have long been characteristics of mainland officialdom, as faceless bureaucrats relish intricate political manoeuvring to outdo rivals to climb the ladder. Stabbing the backs of rivals has been a frequent tactic of those involved in power struggles, although it has remained largely figurative.

Over the past decade, however, that expression has taken on a literal and deadly meaning. Many mainland bureaucrats have begun to employ hit men or use acid to finish off their rivals.

Cases of officials murdering one another have become a trend, exposing another ugly side of a bureaucracy already beset by rampant corruption.

The latest example is typical. Earlier this month, Bai Yuku, former director of the Communications Bureau in Hegang, Heilongjiang , was sentenced to death for masterminding a lethal hit on his successor, Li Xingguang .

On August 17, Li was found dead in front of his apartment with knife wounds to his neck and chest. After eight days of investigation, local police arrested Wang Jianbo , a senior manager at a company controlled by the Communications Bureau, along with the hitman and two other middlemen. Wang later confessed that Bai, his cousin, had ordered the hit and put up 300,000 yuan (HK$343,000) to the hitman.

Following his arrest, Bai, also the former deputy chairman of the city Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said he had ordered Li murdered mainly for ingratitude. Bai had groomed Li to take over Bai's job, but Li refused to defer to Bai in the promotion of officials in the bureau, bids for public works and appropriation of funds - three areas in which corrupt officials can make dirty money by soliciting bribes from lower-ranking officials who seek promotions or by rigging the bidding process or misappropriating funds for personal gain. The development that sealed Li's death was his refusal to allow Bai to head a road construction project valued at 800 million yuan, denying Bai an opportunity to make handsome profits. With the mainland spending trillions of yuan on roads and expressways, transport officials in charge of construction are widely known for skimming funds for their own use or soliciting bribes from construction firms - leading to a popular saying that 'if one wants to get rich, build a road'.