Journo takes on energy chief (2)

Media reports showed that Liu Tienan was in Russia on Thursday for negotiations on natural gas cooperation, along with Wang Qishan, vice premier and head of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the CPC's top anti-graft organ.

Luo could not be reached for comment as of Thursday.

Luo's posts drew a huge number of supportive comments on Weibo, which, along with Luo's original posts, had not been removed from the Internet by press time on Thursday, a rare case compared with the treatment of previous Weibo posts that carried accusations against senior officials.

Also on Thursday, online reports showed that the local Party discipline authority in Wusu, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, had responded to a claim posted on Weibo Monday that local police chief Qi Fang had kept two mistresses, who were twin sisters, and granted them civil servant jobs.

The discipline authority said it has begun to look into the case and promised to inform the public of the truth in a timely manner.

Analysts said these are only the latest two cases of the public eagerly participating in the new leadership's anti-graft drive since the 18th CPC National Congress in mid-November.