Why do so many Chinese officials fall for fake promises of political charlatans?
Party insiders who should know better are being targeted by tricksters claiming connections and influence, despite crackdowns
A man from a modest background and in possession of no remarkable skills managed to amass a staggering fortune over two decades, as well as the respect of top Communist Party officials in China’s southwestern province of Yunnan.
Since then, the term “political charlatan” has turned up in numerous transcripts of investigations into officials who, despite their knowledge of the internal workings of the party system, were fooled by businesspeople who took advantage of their ambitions.
At this year’s meeting in January, Xi said there was a need “to crack down on various political charlatans and strictly prevent the principles of commercial exchange from infiltrating the party”.