A cocktail of sex and financial irregularities has brought down another high-ranking mainland official - a former vice-chairman of China Mobile, Zhang Chunjiang . Zhang, a vice-ministerial level official, was detained late last month for financial irregularities and keeping mistresses, the latest edition of Caijing Magazine reported. He was removed from his position at China Mobile Communications, the parent company of China Mobile. Zhang ran afoul of party bosses when he inflated earnings during his tenure as general manager of the now-defunct China Netcom from 2003 to 2008. China Netcom was merged with China Unicom. According to Caijing, shortly before the irregularities came to light, the 51-year-old divorced his wife and transferred an unspecified amount of assets into her name. His wife was not the only woman in his life, the report said. He was believed to have kept several mistresses, including a deputy department manager of China Netcom who has also been placed under investigation. Quoting unidentified analysts, the magazine said Zhang had inflated China Netcom's revenues in a bid to ensure he would lead China Unicom after the merger. He thought he could then cover up losses, but he was instead moved to the post at China Mobile. Caijing said China Unicom discovered that China Netcom had actually lost up to 20 billion yuan (HK$22.6 billion) before the merger. If the claim proves true, it would be the biggest scandal to hit the mainland's telecoms industry. Zhang's downfall follows the pattern of many other senior officials who have fallen from grace - first come accusations of corruption and financial irregularities, then stories of a decadent lifestyle. The glimpse into the exciting lives of officials provides some welcome colour in dreary state media reports on corruption, and media analysts have speculated that details are permitted in a bid to distract public attention from deep flaws in the political system.
