China Sacks Drunk Official Outed on Internet

BEIJING (Reuters)- China’s ministry of transport has fired an official in the southernboomtown of Shenzhen after photos and video clips of his drunkenmisbehavior in a seafood restaurant appeared online.

Lin Jiaxiang, former Communist Party chief and deputy director ofthe Shenzhen Maritime Safety Administration, was identified in theonline images, which show him trying to force a young girl into themen’s restroom at the restaurant, the Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

The girl, identified elsewhere as 11 years old, escaped.

China’s leadership is increasingly quick to react to publicincidents of official misbehavior to try and dampen widespread disgustover corruption and officials’ abuse of power.

"Sanlu poisoned our people’s future, the evil of public officialsstrangles it, does our people even have a future?" asked one entry onpopular online forum Tianya. Sanlu is the company at the center of anearlier tainted baby formula scandal in which tens of thousands ofinfants fell ill and four died.

Other online news services carried interviews with the parents ofthe 11-year old girl. Lin had bragged he was a high official fromBeijing and offered money to appease them, the interviews said.

The ministry will conduct further investigations before imposing any punishment, Xinhua said.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Writing by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Paul Tait)