Ambitious Chinese officials ‘setting secret traps to blackmail rivals’ to advance their own careers

Ambitious rivals of communist party cadres and businessmen linked to China’s political figures have secretly set “traps” to help  blackmail them over indiscretions and advance their own careers, Chinese media reports.

The traps include hiding cameras and other recording devices in hotels, restaurants, karaoke clubs and other venues frequented by officials across the country.

The Chinese magazine, Honesty Outlook, reported that this unorthodox practice had become much more common since President Xi Jinping launched his unprecedented anti-corruption campaign, targeting party, government, military and state-owned company officials suspected of corruption, after coming to power in late 2012. 

“Disgruntled underlings and peers are both likely to set up traps and record evidence of officials’ wrongdoings,” Wang Wu, a local party chief in an named county in western China, was quoted as saying.

In one case in 2013, Liang Wenyong, the party boss for Gushanzi town, in the northwestern province of Hebei, was sacked after a video went viral showing him eating an expensive meal and speaking disdainfully about the average Chinese citizen.

The video showed Liang sitting in front of lavish seafood items, high-priced liquor and expensive cigarettes.