A recent photograph of a girl holding two luxurious handbags has sparked heated online debates, because the girl, You Yixi, is the daughter of the deputy magistrate of Jinping county in Guizhou province. The public is scrutinizing such photographs and news closely because it suspects that some officials' incomes are disproportionate to the salaries they earn, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

The Jinping deputy magistrate's daughter has made public her purchase record from an online shop, which shows the two bags are counterfeits and cost less than 100 yuan ($15.63). The response of the girl (and her father) has cleared people's doubts. Any attempt to hide the truth could have angered the public further and raised a bigger storm.

The girl said she had paid for the bags from her own pocket, and the public has accepted her claim because the bags did not cost much.

But since her father is a government official, people could question whether he has accumulated wealth through illegal means.

If the two bags are counterfeits, then we have to accept that public supervision has done its job of enhancing transparency. Such a process not only helps rectify some unwarranted bias against officials, but also cultivates mature and rational supervision concepts that can help solve many problems.

The public is paying extra attention to such cases because it suspects some officials are amassing wealth through illegal means. People also doubt that such officials never reveal the true value of the properties they own.

As long as officials do not come forward with true disclosures of their wealth, people will keep on doubting their integrity.  

(China Daily 09/29/2011 page9)