Ni Fake's downfall plays out in a moral maze in Chinese media
A known penchant for jade led to Ni Fake's arrest, but his claim anti-graft officials share responsibility has sparked debate
Amid the big-name catches in the anti-graft campaign, Ni Fake could be easily forgotten.
But the former deputy governor of Anhui province, who is now facing prosecution, inspired some moralising in the media last week after officials gave details about his alleged jade collection.
He also attracted attention with a comment he reportedly made to party investigators, in which he said that if they had warned or punished him two years earlier, his big mistakes could have been avoided.
Ni began taking bribes in 2005, and steadily built a fortune, according to the Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection. The report did not specify how much Ni amassed, but said that more than 80 per cent of it was in the form of jade.
, the party's mouthpiece, compared Ni's jade collecting to the follies of King Wei, who ruled from 668BC to 660BC. The king was obsessed with cranes, spent lavishly raising them, and bestowed his favourites with a title equivalent to knight. When barbarian troops attacked from the north, the king's unhappy soldiers told him to march to battle with his "crane generals". Victory went to the other side.
said officials should be wary of hobbies or pursuits that spiral out of control.
