Shanghai's leading judicial official has launched a six-month moral education campaign after four judges were caught on video cavorting with prostitutes at a nightclub. In a speech to open the campaign, Cui Yadong, party chief and acting president of the Shanghai People's Higher Court, said the scandal had not only tarnished the image of the city but had given "domestic and foreign hostile forces" a chance to attack the Communist Party and the country's judiciary. "The party has launched this education campaign because [the scandal] has severely harmed the … the country's legal foundations, while providing an opportunity for domestic and foreign hostile forces to attack the party, the [Chinese] government, and the socialist judicial system," Cui was quoted as saying by the China News Service. Professor Hu Xingdou a political commentator at the Beijing Institute of Technology, said Cui's speech aimed to deflect criticism from Shanghai's judiciary. "It is a ridiculous speech. The scandal is a product of Shanghai's corrupt judiciary, not the so-called 'domestic and foreign hostile forces'," Hu said. "The speech indicates that the leading figures of Shanghai's judiciary want to shift the focus to 'hostile forces' because they are want to escape accountability as public criticism mounts." Professor Zhang Ming , a political scientist at Beijing's Renmin University, said Cui's speech signalled a return to leftism in Shanghai as "hostile forces" was a common phrase from the Mao Zedong era. "While Xi Jinping still hesitates to reveal his political direction, officials choose Mao's leftism rather than go with the right to keep their jobs," he said. On Wednesday, Shanghai party chief Han Zheng told a conference of senior court officials that the four judges had tarnished the city's image and damaged the credibility of the metropolis' judiciary. The scandal of the judges was first revealed by disgruntled Shanghai plaintiff Ni Guopei, who said he had been attempting since 2010 to find proof of immoral behaviour by Zhao Minghua , deputy chief tribunal judge of the No1 civil court of the City's High Court, but found more judges were involved. Ni posted an eight-minute video on the internet last Friday showing the four judges, including Zhao's boss, chief tribunal judge Chen Xueming , cavorting with prostitutes at a nightclub. All the four judges were sacked on Tuesday and three were also expelled from the party. Meanwhile, Beijing's Shijingshan District Court yesterday published photos and information on all 49 of its judges in a move to appear more transparent. The official Beijing Evening News said the move offered "a positive message following days of reports about Shanghai judges hiring prostitutes".