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# show trials
'I hated corrupt officials but I became one in the end': Chinese documentary is a hit with viewing public
Critics have accused the show of lacking transparency and acting as a political tool for the country’s current leader.
CHINESE OFFICIALS ADMITTING to corrupt acts is fast becoming the eastern nation’s most-watched TV show.
The new series shows a number of high-level politicians, including the nation’s former Communist Party boss Bai Enpei, admitting to a raft of offences including bribery and extortion.
The documentary series, called Always on the Road, aired on Monday and will feature a total of eight well-known figures in the Chinese political world.
However, critics of the series have said there is a serious lack of transparency, leaving the ruling party figures free to purge as many of their political rivals as they please.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, who made the series, said it has been a huge success.
They said in a statement: “People everywhere are talking about Always on the Road.”
In a clip from the show, Zhou Benshun, 63, a former top Party official of Hebei province, tells the camera: “I never expected I would have such an ending,
I was brought up in a poor family. … I hated corrupt officials since I was young, but I became one in the end.
Corruption within the Chinese state is seen as widespread.
On Thursday, the brother of a senior aide to former Chinese President Hu Jintao pleaded guilty to corruption charges .
Ling Zhengce told the Changzhou Intermediate People’s Court he had taken over $2.4 million in bribes, according to the official Xinhua news service.
He “pleaded guilty and expressed remorse” in his final statement.
His brother, Ling Jihua, once Hu’s chief of staff, was jailed for life in July on charges of corruption, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power.
With reporting by AFP
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