On Aug. 30, Leng Liqun was officially removed from consideration as a candidate for vice governor of Xinning County, in central China's Hunan province. The disqualification came in the wake of news that Leng had used a classmate's identity in order to further his education.

Several days before the revelation, on Aug. 25, an informer who identified himself as Jiang Luming publicly posted the accusation that Leng had stolen his offer of admission to secondary vocational school and assumed Jiang's name to continue his schooling. An investigation was promptly opened.

The investigators found four of Jiang's classmates and contacted Jiang via his brother. Jiang explained that he did not originally pass the examination to enter middle school. He sat for the exam a second time the next year and ultimately passed, but he was forced to quit school in his second year of middle school so he could earn money for his family. He never attended a secondary vocational school, nor did he leak the information about Leng.

After interviewing Leng's former teachers, the investigators learned that Leng and Jiang lived in the same village. After Jiang dropped out, Leng's teacher transferred Jiang's enrollment to Leng's school. Then the teacher admitted Leng to take the examination and continue his education under Jiang’s name.

The informant delivered his message three days after Leng was nominated as a candidate for county vice governor. Whoever broke the story appears to have used Jiang's name as a cover.

From an officer to a bureau director, Leng has been promoted several times. According to the existing regulations, Leng's records should have been checked a long time ago, but this was somehow overlooked. A local committee of the Communist Party is thus demanding that accountability be assigned for failure to check Leng's records.