身邊人腐敗(shēnbiānrén fubài): Corruption of people around officials

The central discipline inspection group released inspection and rectification reports on second-round inspections. In eight provinces and the First Automobile Works Group Corp, they found corruption related to people around the senior officials.

This has become a familiar scenario in the corruption scandals of senior officials, with the people around them, such as their secretaries and drivers, also being involved. Some of these people have even been the leaders in corrupt activities by taking advantage of their special status. Last year, a government car driver in Xin'an, Henan province, Central China, made 470,000 yuan ($75,000) by taking advantage of his being close to government officials.

Corruption of the people around senior officials exposes loopholes in the system of governance. The education of officials should be strengthened to remind them to be aware of the behavior of the people around them. And related regulations, rules and laws should be established and strengthened to strictly supervise officials and the use of public power.