Officials from China's southern Guangdong province are reported to have gambled away more than $3m (£2m) of public money in recent years. Chinese media reports said more than 50 officials had been investigated and six had been jailed or punished. The officials lost the money gambling at casinos in Macau, on cruise ships off Hong Kong, and betting on football matches, reports said. President Hu Jintao has said battling corruption is a key priority.
Officials from China's southern Guangdong province are reported to have gambled away more than $3m (£2m) of public money in recent years.
Chinese media reports said more than 50 officials had been investigated and six had been jailed or punished.
The officials lost the money gambling at casinos in Macau, on cruise ships off Hong Kong, and betting on football matches, reports said.
President Hu Jintao has said battling corruption is a key priority.
While some may argue that it is inevitable that the number of traffic accidents will grow as the number of vehicles hitting the roads soars, there may be no positive connection between them. During the past two decades, the number of motor vehicles in the United States jumped by 73%, yet the number of people killed in road accidents dropped by 27.5%. In Japan, the number of cars grew threefold, yet casualties due to traffic accidents dropped 55%. ... Private cars are quite popular in major Chinese cities nowadays, and luxurious sedans are still associated with social status. For example, the BMW brand is lovingly called Bao Ma, or Precious Horse, and BMW sedans are popular among the newly rich. But in recent years, Bao Ma has almost become a synonym for "traffic accident". For instance, if you key in the words "Bao Ma" and "traffic accident" on Chinese search engine Baidu.com, you will receive 6,670,000 entries. To name just a few cases from these entries, in Harbin city in October 2003, a victim was crushed and dragged to death by a BMW and another 12 injured. In Changsha city in 2004, a female driver injured seven with a BMW in March and another seven with a Mercedes-Benz in July. In Yiwu in 2005, a deputy of the Municipal People's Congress drove a BMW while drunk and beat up intervening police officers. In Wenzhou in 2006, a BMW driver caused five accidents in just an hour. In Beijing in 2007, a 17-year-old hit-and-run driver showed not a single trace of repentance when caught. Last year, there were more than a dozen cases of traffic accidents reported, including deadly ones, caused by Bao Ma sedans. ... The public antipathy toward the newly rich also manifests the country's dangerously growing wealth gap. China's Gini coefficient - a measure of statistical dispersion - was 0.47 in 2007, well above the international alert line of 0.4. Even Ma Kai, the former director of the National Development and Reform Commission, admitted the country's income disparity is widening. Many people believe that some wealth collection is associated with official corruption. Professor Mao Shoulong of Renmin University says the general dislike for the rich could be better interpreted as a "hatred of unfairness". Behind the traffic accidents there is the issue of social injustice which is a major source of growing public discontent. According to Professor Qing Lianbin of the Central Party School, such a mentality will definitely affect social harmony.
Private cars are quite popular in major Chinese cities nowadays, and luxurious sedans are still associated with social status. For example, the BMW brand is lovingly called Bao Ma, or Precious Horse, and BMW sedans are popular among the newly rich. But in recent years, Bao Ma has almost become a synonym for "traffic accident". For instance, if you key in the words "Bao Ma" and "traffic accident" on Chinese search engine Baidu.com, you will receive 6,670,000 entries.
To name just a few cases from these entries, in Harbin city in October 2003, a victim was crushed and dragged to death by a BMW and another 12 injured. In Changsha city in 2004, a female driver injured seven with a BMW in March and another seven with a Mercedes-Benz in July. In Yiwu in 2005, a deputy of the Municipal People's Congress drove a BMW while drunk and beat up intervening police officers. In Wenzhou in 2006, a BMW driver caused five accidents in just an hour. In Beijing in 2007, a 17-year-old hit-and-run driver showed not a single trace of repentance when caught. Last year, there were more than a dozen cases of traffic accidents reported, including deadly ones, caused by Bao Ma sedans. ...
The public antipathy toward the newly rich also manifests the country's dangerously growing wealth gap. China's Gini coefficient - a measure of statistical dispersion - was 0.47 in 2007, well above the international alert line of 0.4. Even Ma Kai, the former director of the National Development and Reform Commission, admitted the country's income disparity is widening. Many people believe that some wealth collection is associated with official corruption. Professor Mao Shoulong of Renmin University says the general dislike for the rich could be better interpreted as a "hatred of unfairness".
Behind the traffic accidents there is the issue of social injustice which is a major source of growing public discontent. According to Professor Qing Lianbin of the Central Party School, such a mentality will definitely affect social harmony.
