The recent arrest of 20 high school girls in Shanghai allegedly involved in a prostitution ring has become a hot topic of public discussion. Zhao Xiao, a professor at the University of Science and Technology Beijing gave commented on his Weibo page:

"The prostitution bust Shanghai is one chapter in China's moral crisis… These girls did it for money; they have no sense of shame about being in the sex trade. In today's China, corrupted officials have no guilt, girls have no shame, scholars have no righteousness and citizens have no happiness! What is wrong with China? Where is the way out of these problems? Friends, please forward this massage and gather our voices to save the children!"

This is a typical opinion from mainstream intellectuals and media. No matter the incident, these critics would first point their fingers at corrupted officials. If that becomes a stretch, they would turn the blame to Chinese people's supposed moral decline. For them, evil always originates from corrupted power or morals – a lot of times both at the same time.

The Weibo post's author, Zhao, formally led the macro strategy department's economic research center at the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC). He is considered one of the star economists in the country, and his work can be seen on multiple top media publications nationwide. Zhao was also named a youth leader of this generation by Southern People Weekly, so it's reasonable to see him as representative of mainstream intellectuals and media.

However, Zhao's comments are ladled with problems. First, how can he criticize corrupted officials but not the Johns? Maybe some corrupted officials do have a hand in this case, but the goal of prostitution is to make money. Wouldn't that stand to reason that most of those clients would be made up of wealthy businessman with a lot of cash to spend? How could Professor Zhao miss this?

After filtering between the intellectuals and the media, the government becomes the scapegoat of all the despicable things done by bosses in the big companies. This has become a common occurrence.

There was another case with high school girls working in a prostitution ring a few years ago. The organizer, Wu Tianxi, was a private business owner and the richest person in Zhenping County, Henan Province. He was also the former vice chairman of the Zhenping County People's Political and Consultative Conference. He was found guilty of several crimes, including illegally transferring and selling land-use rights, stealing public funds, extortion and rape, and he was sentenced to death by the Nanyang Intermediate People's Court in December 2007. The crime that most caught the public's eye was his raping of dozens of underage girls.

Those familiar with China know that it is common for business leaders to be given some political consulting positions in local governments. However, their political positions are symbolic, and they remain mostly identified as businessmen. Yet media, more often than not, fixate on the official titles and ignore the criminals' persona in the private sector. This bias is demonstrated by headlines like "Former vice chairman of the Zhenping County People's Political and Consultative Conference rapes dozens of underage girls" and "Public official Wu Tianxi executed by lethal injection."

Reports framed this way end up defaming government officials as a group while leaving the reputation of wealthy businessmen unscathed. In recent years, however, rich individuals have begun keeping concubines even in public. Deng Jianguo, a 52-year-old movie producer, married his 19-year-old goddaughter. Which government official dares to do that?

Moreover, Zhao criticized Chinese people's morality – another misfire. The notion that people would rather become prostitutes than be poor is not one that is unique in China. High school and college girls in Japan and the U.S. entering the sex trade have long become old news.

Scholars and the media should understand two points: One is that the problems in China are not merely results of misused power. The other is that the issues in China are also occurring in other countries of the world including the U.S. So when scholars criticize China, they should look at western countries on the same plane.

Finally, I want to point out that as a prominent figure among government officials, scholars as well as in the media, Zhao Xiao has already influenced China's development with his opinions. This makes him part of the system instead of an outsider looking in, and he is as much to blame as the ones he criticizes. Is it time for him to start looking in the mirror?

(This post was first published in Chinese and translated by Lu Na.)

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.

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