Newsmakers

ID scandal reveals more

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-16 07:54

It sounds surreal but it actually happened.

A woman who allegedly falsified her personal information except her gender cheated her way into becoming the deputy chief of the Communist Youth League of Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, and a member on the standing committee of the local people's political consultative conference.

The woman known as Wang Yali is in fact Ding Zengxin, and she assumed a fake name, age, identity and resume.

What's more outrageous is that a third of more than 90 official seals for her achievements were falsified.

The woman and three others were recently arrested for the fraud. With direct intervention by the Communist Party of China's discipline watchdog, an investigation is under way.

Finding out who did what in the swindle should not be difficult. The promotions and appointments on her resume are useful clues.

But this is not merely another story of the moral degradation of a person or people. There is serious failure of the system in the scandal.

As an official climbs the promotional ladder, organizational departments of the Party at corresponding levels and related personnel departments should be there to supervise.

Let's just say that the woman had not been so greedy in stealing the inheritance from the children of a deceased businessman, who was said to have paved the way for her. Her secret might well be safe in her closet had she not thrown herself into the dangerous gamble. It was the angered daughter of the businessman who exposed Wang's feigned identity.

The authorities have had no questions whatsoever until an order for investigation came from above.

What have they been doing?

(China Daily 03/16/2010 page8)