HONG KONG -- The extraordinary story of a county Communist Party secretary's lonely six-year battle against corruption in coastal Fujian Province, unveiled last week on the Web site of the official People's Daily newspaper, on one level marks a personal crusade.
On a different level it marks another step in the tug of war between the country's increasingly assertive press and the Communist Party's desire to hold onto its monopoly on power by keeping the media on a tight leash. It also highlights the ambiguous role of the press in the campaign against corruption, one of the country's most serious problems.
Huang Jingao, party secretary of Lianjiang County, disclosed in an open letter posted on the People's Daily Web site that he had to wear a bulletproof vest for the last six years because of numerous threats on his life. According to Huang, his campaign against corruption began in 1998 when, as director of the finance commission in Fuzhou, the provincial capital, he investigated a gang that controlled the pig-slaughter market. He said it took four years to bring the gang to justice, during which time he received threatening letters and phone calls.