Love of photography proves Chinese official's undoing
Senior Henan cadre who began taking pictures of nature was convinced by companies his art was worth millions, anti-graft agency warns
The national anti-graft agency has revealed how companies spent millions of yuan supporting a senior Henan official's love of photography, giving him dozens of cameras and staging overseas exhibitions of his work in return for business contracts.
It's the latest warning from Beijing to cadres about the ways corruption can take root.
Qin Yuhai, former party chief of the provincial people's congress standing committee, came under investigation in September for "serious violations of law and party discipline" - a phrase that usually refers to graft.
While mayor of Jiaozuo, Qin began to take photos of Yuntai Mountain to promote the city's tourism industry. But the hobby became an obsession and he stopped caring about his work or the central government's policies, a commentary on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's website said.
"He would go to the mountain to take photos almost every weekend and holiday," a worker at the attraction was quoted as saying. Qin, now 62, was invited to act as honorary chairman of the Henan Photographers Association and sit on the council of the China Photographers Association, which he deemed "recognition of his achievement".
Businesses realised they could take advantage of him through the hobby. "For officials obsessed with photography, if you give him a camera, it is like giving him opium," said the owner of a Beijing imaging company that printed photos for him.