President Xi Jinping’s struggle against corrupt officials gets a juicy turn as dumped mistresses use the internet to get even with their former lovers, explains author Zhang Lijia on het website. Zhang Lijia is currently working on a book on prostitution in China.
Zhang Lijia:
Ordinary Chinese, like everyone else, love a juicy sex scandal, especially one involving a corrupt official. Exposure always brings a kind of satisfaction, given that the embezzled money comes from public funds. These mistresses are just the modern version of concubines. In China, a woman having an affair is increasingly known as a xiaosan– “little third”, a belittling term since she is usually much younger than her patron. At a time when the income gap is widening, such mistresses are despised.
China’s political system is a breeding ground for corruption and keeping a xiaosanis just one of the pleasures corrupt officials indulge in. However, these young lovers can be a time bomb. There has been a string of high-profile cases where corrupt officials were brought down by their jilted mistresses.
Just last month, Wang Suyi , the former head of the United Front Work Department in Inner Mongolia, was sacked after his mistress was one of several to report the misconduct of their former lovers to the media.
The relationship between a corrupt official and his xiaosancan easily turn sour, given that their relationship is usually based on money rather than love and trust. And these dissatisfied women now have the weapon to let out their anger and frustration: the internet.
More at Zhang Lijia’s website.(pfd-file)
The story was first published in the South China Morning Post, unfortunately behind a firewall.
Zhang Lijia is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need her at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers’ request form.
China Weekly Hangout
Steve Barru and Fons Tuinstra discussed on April 4 at the China Weekly Hangout what they expect from the political change in the upcoming ten years under Xi Jinping; agenda: Hu Jintao, austerity, poor-rich divide, and more.
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