Lure of power needs taming

Bribery scandal in Hengyang shows strengthened efforts to build a clean and transparent election system are necessary

Where there are elections, there is always the possibility of irregularities of different kinds to rig or manipulate the voting process in some people's favor. China is no exception.

The scandal involving 56 deputies to Hunan provincial people's congress, who secured their position on the assembly by bribing 518 deputies to the people's congress of Hengyang city to vote for them, is undoubtedly the most serious scandal of its kind in the country's history.