China exhibits photos of wives of corrupt officials

BEIJING: In a stern warning to spouses of corrupt officials who help their partners in taking bribes, the Chinese authorities have set up a photo exhibition displaying the images of such 'understanding wives'.

For the first time, the wives are pictured with their corrupt husbands in the anti-corruption photo exhibition organised by the Beijing Procuratorate, which opened here on Tuesday.

"The spouses of government officials are also the targets of people offering bribes. Our fight against corruption will focus not only on officials but also on their spouses," state news agency quoted a Beijing Procuratorate, Li Qiang as saying.

A total of 134 corruption cases are on display in the exhibition which will tour 18 districts and counties in Beijing over a period of ten days.

Li Zhiwen, former director of the health bureau of Nanping City in east China's Fujian Province, was sentenced to 12 years and six months in prison for taking bribes relating to project bids and quality inspections.

Li's wife, Wei Xianglian, 'contributed significantly' to Li's corruption. She used to stay at home to help take bribes.

She was sentenced to three years in prison with a five year reprieve.

The wife of Sun Junxue, former director of the economic and trade department of Beijing Shougang Corporation, helped her husband take bribes after her retirement. The two accepted a total of 880,000 yuan (about $114,000). Both of them were jailed.