On Monday, China's leading women’s organization called on wives of officials nationwide to help build a "family firewall" against corruption at the launch of a new anti-graft campaign.

 

"Reviewing cases uncovered in recent years, corruption can not only shake the stability of a family, but also cause deaths of family members," said Huang Qingyi, a vice-chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF).

 

The campaign, named "All families render a helping hand in the fight against corruption," aims to mobilize tens of millions of families to join anti-graft efforts.

 

An ACWF official told Xinhua News Agency that the federation was taking action in response to central authorities, which stressed the role families can play in checking corruption in a document issued in January.

 

Some leading officials also became corrupt partly because of the "bad influence" of family members, said Huang.

 

She cited the example of Jiao Zhiren, former mayor of Laizhou City in east China's Shandong Province, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2002 for taking bribes worth more than 1.6 million yuan (US$194,000).

 

"During his trial, Jiao said his wife should be held responsible for at least half of his crime, as she had directly accepted some 430,000 yuan (US$52,000) of the illicit money," said Huang.

 

The ACWF said it is planning a series of other activities to help fight corruption, including the selection and honoring of "model families," an "uncorrupt family" convention and anti-graft messages distributed nationally to households.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2005)