Ex-police chief possessing a gun points to a chain of corruption

Zhao Liping, a former police chief and a senior leader of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, has been detained on suspicion of murder. Reports say he is suspected of having shot a young woman who stayed a night with him in a hotel and might be involved in bribery. Comments:

A look back at Zhao's comments in the past makes the case ironic: He advocated the cleanliness of officials, and called for subordinates to regulate themselves morally. And he is just one of the corrupt officials who boasted of "being clean". How could such a distortion happen? It is lack of regulation over power that allowed these officials to abuse it while uttering self-boasting words without any sense of shame.

Beijing News, March 23

One detail of Zhao's case, in particular, should arouse special attention. Why did he possess a gun, which is illegal in China? Reports show he used to be the police chief of Inner Mongolia, but he had already left that post and so he should have handed in his gun. A deeper investigation into this is necessary because guns illegally held by non-police officials could be really dangerous.

Lu Ya, a commentator, via ifeng blog, March 22

Almost all the major domestic media outlets have reported Zhao's case, yet most used key phrases such as "28-year-old woman" and "one night in hotel" in order to attract eyeballs. Actually, the case should arouse our attention because it involves a senior officer illegally holding a gun and a probable chain of corruption, as well as his problematic promotion in the past.

rednet.cn, March 23

As a former senior police officer, Zhao must know what penalty awaited him if he committed murder; yet he chose to shoot the young woman. Similar cases involving other senior officials have occurred in previous years - it seems corrupt officials are always confident about their ability to escape punishment. Now the central leadership has launched the ongoing anti-graft campaign, it is hoped fewer officials will still feel confident enough to commit crimes like this.

Liu Yiming, a social affairs commentator, March 23