China media calls for an end to mooncake 'bribery'
Media calls for end to expensive 'gifts' for officials as high-priced festival treats go underground to avoid the party's radar
The Mid-Autumn Festival might be part of China's "intangible cultural heritage", but it is the more tangible aspects - bribes in the form of vastly expensive mooncakes - that have corruption watchdogs howling.
Ill-gotten wealth is most likely to change hands during auspicious festivals, not just for good luck, but because these events provide an opportunity to easily disguise the costs as business expenses. For this reason, it is not just the gifts that are precious, but also the receipts that lend credibility to corrupt dealings while offering fringe benefits.
It is a time when mooncakes have as much value as gifts as they do to eat. Mooncakes are an expensive treat and those grabbing the attention of the wealthy - and, increasingly, the authorities - are the "sky-high-priced" versions that come decorated with gold, silver, crystals, or stuffed with shark's fin and abalone.
Last week, the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection published remarks President Xi Jinping made in his visit to Liaoning province, calling for an end to the use of public funds for such gifts, travel and other "unhealthy tendencies".
During a visit to Tianjin last Friday, commission head Wang Qishan said habits such as squandering money on mooncakes and hairy crabs during the Mid-Autumn Festival had tainted the image of Chinese traditional festivals.
The remarks were reprinted by the mainland media to "blow the wind of clean politics". Only weeks earlier, a handful of news outlets exposed examples of ultra-expensive mooncakes. Other media followed suit, running editorials calling them "props of corruption", as the average person could never afford them. By their reasoning, high-end mooncakes were bought by companies as "gifts" - bribes - for officials. And the higher the price, the larger the bribe.
Mainland media also pointed out that the elite mooncakes had gone semi-underground this year. High-class hotels or other institutions, including banks, put in special orders for discreet production.
