Naked official

裸体做官 (luǒtǐ zuòguān): naked official

This naked official puts public funds into his “graft” bag. He is in China, while his wife and daughter are abroad. (source unknown)

An official exposed while transferring assets to his family in North America. (source unknown)

Government official who funnels illegally obtained public funds to family overseas. These officials appear to be “naked” (without assets). Usually abbreviated 裸官 luǒguān.

Naked officials are no aberration. The Ministry of Commerce estimates that about 4,000 corrupt officials left China between 1978 and 2003, taking with them at least USD$50 billion.

Former Chongqing Party Secretary Bo Xilai is perhaps China’s most notorious naked official. Although his income was just US$1600 per month, he managed to send his son Guagua to an elite British boarding school, then Oxford and Harvard. Bo received a life sentence in October 2013 for bribery, embezzlement, and abuse of power.

On August 7, 2014, the People’s Daily published an article explaining that official figures for the exact number of naked officials cannot be released due to concerns for political stability. In response, one netizen commented on Weibo:

Bolianshemaxiaolin (@博联社马晓霖): Political Earthquake: Isn’t the headline of the People’s Daily Online article a bit too ridiculous? Announcing the number of naked officials would trigger a “political earthquake?” They sure lack the “three confidences.” I think the public is already numb. How could you make a political earthquake? (August 7, 2014)

【政治地震】人民网这篇文章的标题是否很雷人？公布裸官数量就可能引发“政治地震”？太没有“三个自信”了。我感觉群众已经麻木了，哪里来的政治地震？[Chinese]