President Hu warns Chinese officials against temptations of beautiful women, power

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Chinese officials warned of allure of sex, power

BEIJING — China’s president has warned officials to be aware of the temptations of beautiful women, money and power in a speech wrapping up a campaign on examining and improving the development of the Communist Party.

President Hu Jintao addressed officials this week in a keynote speech encouraging them to live clean lives and to be honest citizens while staying alert on the allure of power, money and beautiful women, a transcript seen Wednesday on the official government Web site said.

“Leading cadres at all levels should always maintain a spirit of moral character and be aware of the temptations of power, money and beautiful women,” said Hu, addressing Communist Party delegates this week.

China has targeted graft in the past with campaigns warning officials to stay away from hostess bars and not to take mistresses, which can run up costs and lead to an abuse of power.

In his speech, Hu called on officials at all levels to “resolutely fight all corrupt acts and take actions to push forward anti-corruption and clean governance.”

China has long struggled against corruption among high-level Communist Party officials and considers graft a major threat to social stability and a serious challenge to its continuing grip on power.

Government campaigns against indecency in China are common, and efforts against online pornography, lewd content and advertisements for sexual services have led to widespread bans of erotic writings and Web sites.

In recent years, leaders have attempted to rein in graft through periodic anti-corruption crackdowns, but have done little to implement sweeping systematic reforms needed to tackle the problem.

The 18-month campaign, aimed at educating officials on public service, implementing sound development practices, and maintaining social stability, involved all 75 million Communist Party members, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

On the Net: www.gov.cn (in Chinese)