When politics meets a lover's revenge(2)

A common weakness

According to a statement published Wednesday on the administration's website, Fan has been removed from his position and resigned from the administration on June 6.

The administration also claimed that they would keep investigating Fan's case to find out whether corruption or other illegal activities were involved.

Fan is far from the first official to be targeted by a jilted mistress. Earlier this year, Yi Junqing, former director of the Central Compilation and Translation Bureau under the CPC Central Committee, was dismissed from his position after his extramarital relationship was exposed by his mistress via a diary.

On Wednesday, Lei Zhengfu, former Party chief of Chongqing's Beibei district, stood on trial for taking bribes. The investigation into this case was triggered by a journalist who exposed a sex tape featuring Lei and his mistress, who had allegedly been hired to amass blackmail material on officials.

Tang Jun, director of the Crisis Management Research Center at the Renmin University of China, found that 95 percent of corrupt officials caught in 2012 had mistresses, the Beijing-based news website, china.org.cn, reported in January. 

Officials represent the country's image, authority and the government, which require them to act decently not only in their work but also in their personal life, said Xu Xianglin, professor of the School of Government with Peking University. "Any love affairs of government officials are easily associated with their powerful positions. In that case, they should be disciplined not only by social norms and laws, but also strict administrative orders and punishment from the Party," Xu told the Global Times.

Illegal or just immoral?

"If the love affairs of officials weren't connected with bribery or other economic crimes, the officials will only receive administrative punishments for their immoral activities," Yun Jie, director of the administration research department at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

According to related civil servant legislation and disciplinary penalties of the CPC, officials like Fan may face administrative punishments, such as being dismissed from their positions or expelled from the Party.

If the further investigation in these cases reveals that the officials have committed other crimes, then they will receive criminal punishments such as prison sentences. 

Xu also pointed out that in some cases, if married officials have a serious relationship with another person, it may be regarded as a de facto marriage and they may face bigamy charges, which could result in legal ramifications as well as punishments from the Party.

Li Chunyan, a lawyer at the Beijing-based Anbo Law Firm, told the Global Times during a previous interview that it would be very difficult to charge Ji and Fan for bigamy in this case, because they have been identified as boyfriend and girlfriend, not a couple. Li said that if Ji was unaware Fan was married, this would make bigamy charges impossible.

Yun said that the administrative punishments for these kinds of violation should be strengthened and that the law should be specific when regulating such issues, in order to crack down on these affairs, which damage the reputation of the government, as well as the Party.