The website of the National Bureau of Corruption Prevention (NBCP) crashed on Tuesday, just hours after its launch, as droves of people logged on to complain about corruption among officials.
The website (yfj.mos.gov.cn) was closed for most of the afternoon, reported Beijing Youth Daily.
An NBCP official, who did not want to be named, confirmed the breakdown.
"Repairs were carried out soon after the website crashed and normal service has now been resumed, he told the Xinhua News Agency.
"We had a very large number of visitors and it was beyond our expectations," he said.
As of 4 pm yesterday, visitors left 22 pages of messages in the website's guest book.
While many of them reported specific cases of official corruption, these were redirected by the webmaster to other sites, such as the Ministry of Supervision.
Other visitors made calls for the strengthening of the government's anti-corruption efforts, and comments about the need for special attention to be given to cases involving institutes of higher education and grassroots governments.
"The corruption problem in China is a fatal illness. Establishing more institutions will not solve the problem," one comment read.
The number of responses that greeted the launch of the website reflects the growing frustration felt by the public toward corruption at government levels, which has increased due to several high-profile cases in recent years.
Several senior officials, including Qiu Xiaohua, the former director of the National Bureau of Statistics; Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of the food and drug administration; and Chen Liangyu, the former Party head of Shanghai, were found guilty of serious corruption.
Last year, more than 90,000 officials were disciplined, according to official figures.
The NBCP was set up on September 13, with Ma Wen, the Minister of Supervision, as its head.
The bureau collects and analyzes information from such sectors as banking, land use, medicine and telecommunications sectors, and to share it with prosecuting bodies, courts and the police.
However, it is not involved in the investigation of individual cases.
Questions:
1. When the website was launched yesterday, how many pages of messages did the public leave in the guest book?
2. What were some of the comments left by the public?
3. Why did so many people respond to the website?
4. How many officials were disciplined last year?
Answers:
1.22 pages.
2.Some referred to specific cases of official corruption, some called for the government to strengthen its anti-corruption efforts, and some calling for more attention to be paid to institutes of higher education and local governments.
3.There is a growing frustration towards corruption at government levels.
4.Over 90,000.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
