Behind every corrupt man (4)

Not-so-secret rules

Although she feels that education programs for officials' spouses are unnecessary, Hu Qiming, 36, a high school teacher in Yongzhou, South China's Hunan Province, started to experience changes soon after her husband was promoted to the local bureau of commerce.

"More businessmen are coming to visit us and offering gifts to my daughter. It looks like bribery but my mom always says it's never a big problem to receive a gift," Hu told the Global Times.

Jiang Ming'an, a law professor with Peking University, said the blurred line between a gift and a bribe is a problem. "Over 90 percent of corrupt officials, when reflecting on their past, would say they just received a minor gift from those who wanted to show gratitude."

Besides, most Chinese do not believe in "zero tolerance" for corruption, which always starts with accepting a free meal.

"If you want to get a government project, you have to be able to afford the tuition fee for an overseas college and cover all the air tickets for the official's kid," an experienced contractor surnamed Yue, who is involved in a road-repairing project in Shenzhen, told the Global Times.

Yue said that "gifting at the right time in the appropriate form" is something called "the rule of being an official."

"Although it can't be used as an excuse by officials to escape from punishment, it's true that whenever you become one, you have to take bribes to survive," Jiang Dehai, a professor from the Shanghai-based East China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times.